The Potter Twins and the Sorcerer's Stone
by iampotterlocked
Summary: The Potter children were living as normal a life they could, but when a giant man tells them they are from the wizarding world, life as they know it turns upside down. They tumble headfirst into the world of magic, where they face a new world, making friends and enemies, and the looming expectations of those around them. Chapter four on is post hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

_**I do not own any characters other than Evangeline Potter**_

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><p>Evangeline Potter was not a morning person. Like Aunt Petunia cared. Her shrill voice was one of the first things Evie heard every morning.<p>

"Up! Get up children! NOW!" she screamed at the door while pounding on it.

"Ev, it's time to get up," said her brother, Harry.

Pound. "Are you up yet?" Aunt Petunia yelled.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," harry said.

"Get going. I want everything perfect on my Duddykins' birthday." a note of pride went into Petunia's voice on the last three words. "Up!" she screeched one last time and gave the door a good rap, then went to the kitchen.

"Evie, you need to get up," Harry coaxed.

Okay okay I'm up," she said with a groan. She had forgotten it was Dudley's birthday.

Evie was a very thin girl, with light red hair, pale skin and light amber- brown eyes that in the right light, almost matched her hair. Her brother, Harry, was a thin boy with very untidy hair, knobby knees, and bright green eyes. That was one thing that made Harry stand out in a crowd, his eyes. Of course, as he and Evie were twins, one always knew where the other was. It was one of the many strange things about the two children. They both had a lightning shaped scar. Harry's was on his forehead, and Evie's was on her right cheekbone, close to her eye. Once, she and Harry asked where they had gotten the scars. "In the car crash, when your parents died. Don't ask questions." _don't ask questions. _It was the first lesson of living with the Dursleys.

As she entered the kitchen with Harry to make breakfast, and saw the table piled high with gifts for Dudley. When harry finished the bacon, and Evie finished eggs, Dudley entered the room. He was a very fat boy, with no neck, like his father, and fat arms and legs. He waddled to the table and started to count up gifts.

"But Mum! I only got thirty six presents. That's TWO less than last year!" His face turned a light shade of red, and then got darker.

Aunt Petunia looked very nervous. "Duddykins, you didn't count the big one from your Auntie Marge."

"Well then that's thirty seven. STILL one less than last year!"

Evie sensed a Dudley tantrum coming on, and started to eat her eggs quickly in case something happened. Aunt Petunia obviously felt the same way, as she then told Dudley that when they were out today, they would buy him "another TWO presents. Then that would be thirty nine." Dudley's fat face squinted in concentration. "Then that would be more than last year?"

"Yes Dinky Duddydums." Aunt Petunia said nervously.

"Alright," he said.

Just then, Uncle Vernon came into the kitchen. He looked a great deal like a pink walrus, without tusks. Dudley took after him quite a bit. He chuckled, "My little tyke wants his money's worth. Atta boy, Dudders!" Uncle Vernon seemed to see Harry for the first time. "Brush your hair!" he barked to him as a morning greeting. Harry's hair was always untidy; it simply grew all over the place. On the other hand, Evie's hair was brushed into her ballerina's bun, which she wore even outside of dance class. The only reason she was allowed to take classes was some scholarship a benefactor set up to promising students. It covered the cost of clothes, shoes, and lessons at the studio. Evie wanted to be a professional dancer, and stretched every day, but her teacher, Ms. Hartman, said Evie would not be ready for pointe shoes for at least another year. Evie was very disappointed, but Ms. Hartman knew what she was doing, as she taught many soloists.

The phone rang, and Aunt Petunia went out in the hall to answer it. Evie was serving the bacon when Aunt Petunia stalked into the kitchen. "Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figg's broken her leg, and can't take those two."

Dudley stopped eating and his mouth dropped in horror. But the twins became slightly hopeful. Every year for Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out to theme parks, movies, and restaurants. And every year, Harry and Evie went to stay with Mrs. Figg, who lived down the street. Her house reeked of cabbage, and she made them look at pictures of all of the cats she had ever had. They knew they should look sad, but it was hard to look sad when they knew that it was an entire year before they had to look at dead cats.

"What about your sister, Marge?" Aunt Petunia asked Uncle Vernon.

"Don't be silly, Petunia. She hates them. What about your friend, Yvonne?" Vernon replied.

"On vacation." Petunia said shortly. "Can we leave them here?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Uncle Vernon raged. "I will not come back to find the house in shambles!"

Harry muttered under his breath, "we won't do anything," but nobody heard him. They were always referred to as "the children," "those two" "boy" or "girl," like something the Dursleys didn't understand.

"We could take them to the zoo, and then just leave them in the car..." Aunt Petunia trailed off.

"No Petunia, I won't stand for it. That car is new." Vernon was turning a pale shade of pink.

The front doorbell rang. "Oh good Lord, they're here!" Aunt Petunia cried. By 'them" she meant Piers Polkiss, a friend of Dudley's. Piers was a scrawny boy with the face of a rat. He usually held people's hands behind their back while Dudley punched them.

In the end, it was decided that Harry and Evie would go with the Dursleys to the zoo. Before they left, Uncle Vernon pulled them into the hallway. "Now," he said threateningly, "no funny business. At all. Or I swear you will never see the outside of your cupboard again."

"We won't do anything," Evie protested. But Uncle Vernon did not look very happy. He did have some reason to, though. Many weird things happened to the twins.

Once, Aunt Petunia, sick of Harry's untidy hair, cut it to about a quarter of an inch, except for his bangs which she said would hide 'that ugly scar.' Harry was so scared of going to school the next day. They were already teased and humiliated so much already. But the next day, Harry's hair was normal, like it was never cut! The Dursleys were so mad, that they gave Harry a week in the closet under the stairs. Evie made them put her in too, just to be with Harry. Another time, Evie knocked over the toaster, but instead of crashing to the floor, it stopped a foot from the floor, and then set itself gently down. She got two weeks in the closet for that one, and Harry made the Dursleys put him in too, just to be with her. But neither could explain why that happened. It just did.

But today was going to be different. For the first time, Evie and Harry were going to the zoo. They were sure that nothing would go wrong. On the way to the zoo, Uncle Vernon complained about a lot of things. The twins were his favorite subject. But this morning, seeing a pack of motorcyclists, Uncle Vernon got going about motorcycles. "Ruddy things, why can't they just use a car, and they're so _loud," _he complained.

Harry piped up. "I had a dream about a motorcycle once," he said.

"It was flying," Evie finished for him. They always had the same dreams.

At the stop light, Uncle Vernon turned around in his seat, his eyes looking suspiciously smaller than usual. "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!' He yelled to them. Piers and Dudley snickered.

That morning was one of the best mornings Evie and Harry had ever had with the Dursleys. They were careful to walk a little away from Dudley and Piers, in case they fell to their old hobby of punching them. Harry motioned Evie to the gorillas. "It looks like Dudley, doesn't it," he said. Evie had to smother her giggles, for at that moment, Aunt Petunia shot her a nasty look. They ate lunch in the cafeteria in the zoo, and even the twins got dessert when Dudley threw a loud and very public tantrum because his Knickerbocker Glory didn't have enough ice cream, and Uncle Vernon got him another one.

But it was all too good to last. After the lunch, they made their way to the reptile house, where it was cool and dark. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, man-crushing pythons, and venomous snakes, and then they found one. This snake could have easily crushed Uncle Vernon's precious new car, but at the moment, didn't look frightening. It was asleep. Dudley pounded on the glass, trying to make it move. "Dad, Dad, make it move! Make it do something!" he whined to Uncle Vernon. Uncle Vernon tapped the glass twice, but the snake stayed asleep. Dudley got bored, and moved on. Harry pulled Evie to the case where the snake was sleeping.

And then, suddenly, it moved. It raised itself up to the twins' eye level, and it _winked._ Harry glanced around then winked back. Evie, always more cautious, observed the other people in the reptile house for a while longer, then proceeded to wink back. It then proceeded to give them a look that said, quite plainly, "I get that all the time."

'I know, said Harry.

"That's horrible," Evie said. "I'm sorry." the python gave her a look that said, 'It's not your fault." "I know," she said, echoing Harry, "but that is still so sad."

Harry interrupted her, "where do you come from?" the snake pointed its tail at the sign outside its cage. BOA CONSTRICTOR, BRAZIL.

"Have you ever been to Brazil?" Evie asked.

The snake pointed again to its sign. BRED IN CAPTIVITY. "I'm sorry," Evie said.

"MR. DURSLEY! DUDLEY! COME HERE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THE SNAKE IS DOING!" Piers came running up behind the twins.

"Out of the way," Dudley commanded, and pushed Harry to the ground, while Evie danced out of the way. She felt a red-hot flash of anger, and then the glass disappeared. Dudley had to grab the railing to keep from falling over, and there were gasps and screams of horror as the snake slithered out of the cage. Evie heard it say, "Brazil, here I come. Thanksss, amigo." the snake slithered out of the house quite quickly. The zoo director was in shock. He kept asking where the glass went, and brewed everyone hot cups of tea. Evie only saw the snake playfully nip at the heels of people, but by the time they were at the car, Dudley barely got away with his life, and Piers said it almost bit off his leg. But, Piers calmed down enough to ask Evie and Harry why they were talking to the snake.

Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before grabbing both of the twins by their arms, and saying "into the cupboard- stay- no meals," before collapsing into the chair. Aunt Petunia rushed off to get him some brandy.

"I wish we had a watch, and then we would know how long we've been in here," Harry told Evie sadly.

"Harry, just go to sleep, it makes time pass faster," Evie said, but she knew she or Harry could not sleep. They had lived with the Dursleys ten miserable years, since their parents had died in the car crash. But they could not remember a car crash. Sometimes, when they strained their memories, all Evie and Harry could come up with is a green light, and pain, Harry's on his forehead, Evie's on her cheek. The pain must be from the crash, but they couldn't think what the green light was. They did not know what their parents looked like, there were no pictures.

Many times, Evie hoped and wished and dreamed that someone would take her away from the Dursleys. And it seemed that people knew her. Once, in a shop, a man in a purple top hat bowed to her and Harry. Aunt Petunia asked angrily if she knew the man, then rushed them out of the shop. A woman dressed in all green waved to them merrily on a bus. But apart from those few times, Evie and Harry had nobody. Dudley made sure of that, and nobody disagreed with Dudley and his gang.


	2. Chapter 2

The snake incident got them the longest punishment ever. By the time Evie and harry were let out, the summer had started, Dudley had gone through most of his birthday presents, such as crashing his remote control airplane. On his first time on the racing bike, he had crashed into Mrs. Figg as she was crossing Privet Drive on crutches. Evie was glad school was over, but Dudley's gang, Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon came to the house every day, and always tried to beat them up. They were all big and stupid, but Dudley was biggest and most idiotic, so he was the leader. Harry and Evie took to wandering the neighborhood on long walks. They could see only a small ray of hope at the end of the holidays. For the first time in their lives, Dudley would not be attending their school. Dudley would be going to Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings and the twins would be going off to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was amusing.

"They stuff people's heads down the toilets there, at Smeltings," he told Harry once. "Want to go and practice?"

Harry replied, "No thanks. The toilet's never had anything as disgusting as your head down it- it might be sick." Then Harry took Evie's arm and hurried away.

On a day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy the uniform for Smeltings. She left the twins at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg was not as bad as usual, letting them watch television, and giving them chocolate that tasted very old indeed. Mrs. Figg had broken her leg tripping over one of her numerous cats, so she was not as fond of them as she was before.

That evening, Dudley was dressed up and paraded around the house for the family in his new uniform. The boys at Smeltings wore maroon tailcoats, bright orange knickerbockers, and flat hats made of straw called boaters. They also carried sticks, which would be put to use hitting each other when there were no teachers looking. It was said to give them training for 'the real world.' As he looked at Dudley in the uniform, Uncle Vernon said that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt petunia started bawling about how her Ickle Dinky Duddydum Sweetums had grown up. Harry did not speak, unless he would burst into laughter. Evie excused herself under the story of having to go to the loo (emergency that could not wait) to leave the room, to start silently laughing.

The next morning, when they entered for breakfast, Evie's nose was assaulted with the most horrible smell. It was coming from a large tub in the sink. Harry went forward to get a look. The tub was full of rags floating in gray water.

"What is this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did when one of the twins dared to ask her a question.

"Your new uniforms," she said shortly.

Harry looked again, and Evie took a glance.

"Oh," she said. "I didn't know it had to be wet."

"Don't be stupid. I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you to wear to Stonewall High. It will look like everyone else when I'm finished," She snapped.

Evie really disbelieved that last statement, but she knew better than to argue. They would look like they were wearing bits of elephant skin on their first day of school. Just what they needed. Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, and wrinkled their noses at the smell. Dudley banged his Smelting stick on the table. There was the click of the mail slot and the muffled flop of letters on the floor.

"Get the mail, Dudley," uncle Vernon commanded, face hidden behind the paper.

"Make Harry get it," Dudley whined back.

"Get the mail, harry."

"No. Make Dudley get it."

"Dudley, poke him with the smelting stick."

Harry quickly dodged the stick, and went to get letters. Evie took her toast from the toaster and started buttering it. She then asked Aunt Petunia where the strawberry jam was, and Aunt Petunia barked back that Evie had eaten it all, and had to make do with raspberry. Harry walked into the kitchen with the letters in his hand. He was staring at two of them in his hand with a look of wonderment. He gave Evie an envelope, and she stared at it. Nobody ever wrote to her or Harry, but this was clearly her letter.

_Miss E. Potter_

_The Cupboard under the Stairs_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

There was even her cupboard on it. She started to open the envelope. On it, there was a purple wax seal with a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake.

Uncle Vernon ripped open an envelope, then snorted in disgust. It was most likely a bill. He then started reading a postcard. He informed Petunia that his sister marge was ill.

"Dad!" Dudley said loudly. "They got something!"

Evie was on the point of opening the letter, which was written on heavy parchment. It was jerked rudely out of her hands by uncle Vernon, who had also got Harry's letter too. He opened the letter, and then looked at it. His face went from red to green to purple to white.

"P-P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.

Dudley tried to make a grab for the letter, but Uncle Vernon held it high up out of his reach. Aunt Petunia made her way to the table, and took the letter. She looked as though she might faint, and sat down heavily. She clutched her heart.

"Vernon! Oh goodness- Vernon!"

They stared at each other, forgetting Dudley and the twins. Dudley did not like this treatment, and rapped his father on the head with his Smelting stick.

"I want to read it," Dudley announced to the family.

"WE want it! It's OURS!" Evie yelled.

"GET OUT! OUT! NOW!" Uncle Vernon shouted at both Dudley and the twins.

He took Dudley and Harry in his arms, and kicked Evie out of the kitchen. When they were out of the doorway, Uncle Vernon slammed the door in their faces. Evie leaned near the door to eavesdrop on the conversation. Aunt Petunia was wondering in an obviously scared voice how they (whoever 'they' was) could know where they (this time meaning Harry and Evie) were sleeping. Vernon was saying that 'their' minds work in different ways, and that they were going to ignore the letter. There was also something about "stamping out this nonsense".

That evening, after he came back from work, Uncle Vernon poked his head inside the cupboard.

"Where are the letters?" Evie demanded.

"Who is writing to us?" Harry asked.

No one. It was addressed to you by mistake. I have burned it." Vernon said shortly.

Evie took the liberty to think some very horrid words about Uncle Vernon, while Harry was protesting this statement loudly.

"SILENCE!" Vernon yelled Harry. He took a pause, and twisted his face into a smile. It looked painful, and Evie hoped it was.

"Now… you see… you have been really getting too big for this cupboard. You will move into Dudley's second bedroom."

"Why?" they asked bluntly at the same time.

"Don't ask questions!" Vernon yelled. "Upstairs! Now!"

Because they had very few things, it only took them one trip each to move bedrooms. Then they realized there was only one bed. Evie brought her cot up from the cupboard, and it was decided that they would alternate nights on the bed. She surveyed the bedroom. It was full to bursting of broken things Dudley got. There was a large birdcage that used to have a parrot Dudley swapped for an air rifle. The only things untouched were books.

Dudley was throwing a spectacular tantrum downstairs. "I want that bedroom! I NEED IT!" Even by Dudley standards, this was a big one.

Next morning at breakfast, everyone was quiet. Dudley's eyes were red and puffy from crying, real tears this time. To everyone's shock, Uncle Vernon did not give Dudley his room back, even though Dudley had hit the walls with his smelting stick, thrown his tortoise out the window, and kicked his mother. When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon made Dudley go and get it. They heard a vase in the hallway being knocked over.

"Here's some more! 'Miss E. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive-'"

With a cry, Vernon leapt to his feet (Evie wondered how his knees were holding up) and rushed into the hall. Harry and Evie were hot on his heels. He had to wrestle his son to the ground to get the letters from him. During the scuffle, everyone was hit with the Smelting stick and Evie was sporting a cut lip. But Vernon won, clutching the letters in his hands. He then yelled at everyone to go to their rooms. Up in the bedroom, Evie wondered how someone knew she had changed her rooms. She and Harry made a plan to get the letters first this time.

When the alarm clock rang at six o clock, for the first time ever, Evie became a morning person. Harry looked at her in shock.

"don't expect much more from me," she yawned quietly.

Harry looked at her in shock.

"don't expect much more from me," she yawned quietly.

They quickly dressed and crept down the stairs, stepping over the one that creaks. They were On the way out the door to wait for the postman and get the letters. Then suddenly-

"AAAAARRRRGH!"

They leapt up. they had trodden over something alive! It turned out that Harry had stepped on Vernon's face, while Evie had stepped on his stomach. After much yelling and ranting, they were instructed to go make breakfast. At six thirty, the letters had come, and there were two more letters in green ink. Uncle Vernon was ripping them up into small bits. Later that day, Uncle Vernon nailed up the mail slot.

"see," he explained. "if they cannot deliver them, they will give up."

On Friday, two dozen letters arrived. They could not go through the mail slot, so they were pushed under the door, shoved in the sides, and forced through the window of the downstairs bathroom. Uncle Vernon stayed home from work again, nailing up all small openings in the house. He jumped at small noises.

On Saturday, twenty four letters came. They were delivered inside of the two dozen eggs that were delivered through the living room window. Uncle Vernon took it upon himself to call the post office. Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in the food processor. Dudley could not believe that anyone wanted to talk to Harry and Evie.

On Sunday morning, uncle Vernon sat down looking tired, but happy.

"No post on Sundays," he said triumphantly. "No damn letters today." At that moment, hundreds of letters came whizzing in by the chimney. The Dursleys ducked. The twins jumped up and made grabs for letters, but Uncle Vernon threw them into the hallway.

"Enough!" he said, looking partially insane with half of his mustache missing. "Get some things and go into the car."

Ten minutes later Evie had packed her backpack full of clothes and a blanket. Harry did the same thing. Dudley was in the backseat sniffling. His father hit him in the head for trying to pack his TV and computer in the same bag.

Uncle Vernon drove, and drove, then drove some more. Aunt Petunia did not dare ask any questions. Evie thought it was nice to see her live by her own rules for once. Uncle Vernon would take a turn onto a road. It looked completely random. Whenever he did this, he would mutter about shaking somebody off. Evie thought he was fat enough for two people, and wondered when the other would come out from under the jacket. They did not stop all day. Dudley was howling by dusk. He had missed many TV shows, and had not gone so long without blowing something up on the computer. They had now stopped at a gloomy looking hotel on the outskirts of a city. Dudley and his parents shared one room, and Evie and Harry shared another. The room smelled musty. They did not sleep, but stayed awake on the windowsill, taking comfort in the other's company. There was no need for words.

The next day, they ate stale cornflakes for breakfast. The owner of the hotel came over to the table.

"Excuse me, but is one of you Miss E. Potter? Or Mr. H. Potter? I have many more at the front desk."

She held up a letter that was addressed to Evie up so they could read the green address.

_Miss E. Potter_

_Room 17_

_Railview hotel_

_Cokeworth_

She and Harry both made grabs for the letter, but Uncle Vernon knocked her hand out of the way. The owner stared.

"I'll take them," he said while following the woman out of the dining room.

"Can't we just go home, honey?" Aunt Petunia asked Uncle Vernon as he was driving. She sounded quite meek, and Evie could see why. Uncle Vernon was just driving, and driving, and driving. He did not say what he was looking for. He drove into the middle of the forest, stopped, got out, looked around, got back in the car, and then kept driving. This happened many times. It happened once over a plowed field, at the end of a suspension bridge, and at the top of a parking garage.

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia later that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked the car at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and then disappeared. He did not say where he was going.

"It's Monday," he said. "The Great Humberto's on TV. I want to stay with a _television_." He sniveled.

Dudley's mention of Monday reminded Evie that her birthday was tomorrow. She felt bad that she did not get Harry a present like she usually did. Harry was obviously thinking the same thing.

"I'm so sorry Ev, but I didn't get you anything. I didn't have time, and I also forgot," he confessed to her.

"It's okay Harry, I didn't get you anything either," she whispered softly because Aunt Petunia was shooting her many nasty looks.

Uncle Vernon sauntered up to the car, grinning from ear to ear. Evie knew something was wrong, and did not make eye contact. He was also carrying a long, thin package wrapped in paper.

"Found us the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"

It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing to a rock out on the sea. Settled precariously on the rock was the smallest, most wretched little shed imaginable. It looked like Dudley would not watch TV tonight.

"the forecast says storm tonight!" Uncle Vernon said. "And this gentleman kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"

A toothless ancient man came slowly up to them, pointing with a grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the water below.

"We already have rations, so all aboard," Uncle Vernon said.

It was freezing. Icy rain and sea spray soaked their necks, and chilly wind hit their faces. After a while they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the house.

It smelled strongly of seaweed, and was overall horrible. The wind crept in from the cracks, and there were only two rooms.

Uncle Vernon's 'rations' were a bag of chips and a banana each. He tried starting a fire with the empty chip bags.

"We could do with those letters now, eh?" he asked. He was in a good mood. Obviously, nobody could deliver the letters in a storm like this. When night came, the storm picked up in earnest. The wind rattled the windows, and the waves splattered the walls of the hut. Aunt Petunia found blankets for Dudley and made him a bed on the holey sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went to the other room for the lumpy bed. The twins were off to look for the softest bit of floor possible. Evie curled up her clothes as a pillow, and she spread her blanket over them. Harry put his clothes on over the blanket for extra warmth.

Evie was very hungry, but did not complain. She knew that Harry was too. She also knew that he would not complain, either. They spent their time watching the dial of Dudley's lighted watch, as time ticked closer to their birthday. She wondered where the letter writer was now. Maybe by now the Privet Drive house would be stuffed to bursting of letters, and she could nab one. Three minutes to go. The sea was slaping hard on the rock. There was also the crunch of rocks falling into the sea.

"One minute!" Harry and Evie whispered at the same time. thirty seconds…. Twenty….. ten… five…four…three…two… one…

**BOOM.**

The hut shook. Someone wanted in.


	3. Chapter 3

BOOM. The knock came again. Whoever was knocking, they wanted in badly. Dudley started awake.

"Where's the cannon?" he asked foolishly.

There was a crash, and Uncle Vernon came out of the bedroom, holding a rifle in his hands. They knew now what was in that long, thin package.

"Who's there? I warn you, I'm armed!"

There was a pause. Then-

SMASH!

The door was hit with so much force that it was knocked clean off its hinges with a crash and landed on the floor. Evie felt her knees go wobbly. She started taking deep breaths to calm herself, started bending into shallow plies, and hung on tightly to Harry.

A giant man was standing in the doorway. His face was hidden by a long mane of black hair, and a wild tangled beard. His eyes were sparkling under the hair, though. He squeezed himself into the hut. He had to stoop very low to avoid hitting the ceiling. He bent down and put the door back in its frame. The noise outside dropped slightly. He turned to look at them, huddled together in fear.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been easy…"

He walked over to the sofa where Dudley was frozen with terror.

"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the man.

Evie took a liking to him immediately. She could tell Harry did too.

Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching behind Uncle Vernon.

"An' here's Evangeline and Harry!" exclaimed the man.

"Please, sir, call me Evie. Everybody does," Evie asked him.

"Alright Evie, and Harry. Harry, you don't have a nickname, do you?" asked the giant jokingly.

"No, sir," Harry answered back softly.

"There is no need to call me 'sir'" the stranger said. "Yeh know, Harry, you look a lot like yer dad, but yeh have yer mom's eyes. And you, Evie, look a lot like yer mum, but yeh got yer dads eyes. Last time I saw you two, yeh was only babies."

Uncle Vernon made a strange rasping noise.

"I demand you leave at once!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the man. He reached over the back of the sofa, jerked on the gun, and then bent it into a knot as easily as if it was string.

Uncle Vernon made another strange noise, this time, a squeak.

"Well then, Evie and Harry," the giant said, turning his back to the Dursleys, "a very happy eleventh birthday. Got sommat for yeh, but I might've sat on it at some time. It'll taste all right though."

From the inside of one of the black coat's numerous pockets, he pulled out a slightly squished box. Harry took it, his hands shaking. Evie peered over into the box. There was a large chocolate cake sticky with frosting. The words _Happy Birthday _were written in green icing.

Evie looked up at the man. She did not know him, but he knew her birthday, name, parents, and had seen her as a baby.

"Who are you?" she asked him.

He chuckled.

"Oh dearie. Hadn't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He said this all very proudly.

He held out his hand and shook Evie's arm, then Harry's.

"Now what about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his enormous hands together. "I'd not say no to summat stronger, if yeh got it."

He glanced at the empty fireplace in the hut, with the five shriveled chip bags. He snorted. He bent down over the fireplace to hide what he was doing. Evie felt a flash of fear, but it was gone when he drew back a second later with a roaring fire in the grate. It filled the hut with warmth, and she relaxed.

Rubeus Hagrid sat down on the sofa, and it sagged under his weight. Then he began emptying his pockets. There was a copper kettle, a package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several mugs, and a bottle of amber liquid which he took a gulp of before making tea.

"Can I have some?" Harry asked, referring to the amber liquid.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Evie roared at him. "WE ARE TOO YOUNG FOR ADULT LIQUID!"

The giant burst into laughter at her comment. He turned over the sausages, still wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes. The smell of sausages filled Evie's nose. The Dursleys did not dare speak while the food was cooking, but when he slid the first of the sausages onto a plate, Dudley fidgeted. Uncle Vernon said sharply not to touch anything he gave Dudley.

The giant chuckled darkly.

"Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' no more, Dursley. Don't worry."

He passed sausages to the twins. Evie was already so hungry and cold that the warm sausage tasted better than anything she had ever eaten before. Harry looked at the man and said, "I'm sorry, but we still don't know who you are."

The man took a gulp of tea then wiped his mouth with the back of his enormous hand.

"Call me Hagrid," he said. "Everyone else does." He looked at Evie with a glint in his eyes. "And like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of the Keys at Hogwarts- yeh know all about Hogwarts, o' course."

"Er- no," Harry said.

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry," Evie said quickly.

"_Sorry?" _barked Hagrid. He turned to the Dursleys, who had shrunk back into the shadows. "It's them who should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters, but I never would have thought yeh didn't know about Hogwarts!"

Evie thought quickly. "Is that a dangerous contagious disease that Harry and I have?" it seemed like a good guess.

"No," Hagrid said shortly, sounding like he was holding back more chuckles. "But where do you think your parents learned it all?"

"All what?" Harry asked Hagrid.

"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now jus' wait one second!"

He leapt to his feet, filling up the room, anger filling up parts his body did not. The Dursleys cowered against the wall.

"You mean to tell me that those children- those children- know nothin' about- about ANYTHIN'?"

"This is going too far," Evie said. Hagrid turned to stare at her. "I have gone to school, and my marks are not bad. I know something, like math, and reading, and spelling."

Hagrid waved his hand dismissively and said, "About _our _world, I'm mean. _Your _world. _My _world. _Yer parents' world." _

"What world?" she and Harry asked at the same time.

Hagrid looked like he was going to explode.

"DURSLEY!" he boomed.

Uncle Vernon had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at the twins.

"But yeh two must know about yer parents," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

"What?" Evie asked. "Why?"

"Yeh don't know… yeh don't know…" Hagrid trailed off, running his fingers through is beard, looking at them with a bewildered stare.

"Yeh don' know what yeh _are?" _he said finally.

Uncle Vernon chose this moment to regain his voice.

"Stop! Stop right there! I forbid you to tell them anything!" he commanded.

"Wow, way to talk about us like we aren't here," Evie whispered to Harry to try to get him to crack a smile.

A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under half the look Hagrid gave him. When Hagrid spoke, every syllable was filled with outrage.

"You never told them? Never told little Harry and Evie what was in the letter Dumbledore left them? I was there! I saw it! I saw him leave it! And you kept it from them all this time?"

"Keep what from us?" Harry asked in the same way he asked for the bottle of amber liquid.

"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" uncle Vernon yelled panic stricken.

Aunt Petunia gave a gasp.

"Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," Hagrid said to the Dursleys. "Harry, yer a wizard, and Evie, yer a witch."

There was silence.

"A what?" Harry and Evie gasped at the same time.

"A witch and wizard, o' course," said Hagrid. "And mighty good 'uns, once yer trained up. With a mum and dad like yers, what else could you be? Oh, I reckon its time yer read yer letters."

He took out two letters out of a pocket, and handed one to Evie. She looked at it closely. It looked like the one she got at Privet Drive. It was addressed to Miss E. Potter, the Floor, Hut- on the Rock, The Sea. She pulled out the letter and read.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of

WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY.

Headmaster- Albus Dumbledore.

Dear Miss Potter,

We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_

Evie had a lot of questions. After a few minutes, Harry asked, "what does it mean, they await my owl?"

"Oh, that reminds me," said Hagrid. He clapped himself on the forehead with enough force to knock over a cow. He pulled out an owl- a real, live owl- a long quill, and parchment. He scribbled down a note that Evie read upside down.

**Dear Professor Dumbledore, **

**Given **Evie and Harry the letters. Taking them to buy school supplies tomorrow. The weather is terrible. I hope you are well.

Hagrid

He rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, who clamped it in its beak, then went to the door and threw the owl out. He then came back to the sofa and sat down as if this were normal. Evie nudged Harry and he closed his mouth with a sheepish smile.

"Where was I?" Hagrid asked. Uncle Vernon chose that moment to move into the firelight.

"They are not going," he said, as if it was enough to make Hagrid stand down.

Hagrid grunted. "I'd like to see a Muggle like you stop them."

"A what?" Evie asked.

"A Muggle. Non magic folk." Hagrid explained. "It is the worst luck of you to grow up in a family of the biggest Muggles I have ever seen."

"We swore that when we took them in we would put a stop to this rubbish! We will stamp it out of them! Witch and wizard indeed!" uncle Vernon shouted.

'You knew? You KNEW I'm witch?" Evie asked, betrayed.

"Knew!" a voice shrieked suddenly. It belonged to Aunt Petunia, who stalked up to stand by her husband. "Knew_! _Oh we knew all right. How could you not be? My sister being one of them. Oh, she got a letter just like that, and disappeared off to that- that place- and came home every break to have her pockets full of frogs, and turning teacups into rats! Oh not my parents though- Lilly this and Lilly that. I was the only one to see her as she was. A freak. They were so proud of having a witch in the family. Then she went and met that Potter boy, and they had you and I knew- oh I knew that you would be freaks too! Then she went and got herself blown up, and we landed with you!" she was breathing heavily by the end of the rant.

"Got… herself… blown up?" Evie said in a small voice. 'You told us they died in a car crash!" tears started filling her eyes.

"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid. "How could a car crash kill Lilly an' James Potter? A scandal! An outrage! Evangeline and Harry Potter not knowing their own story when every man woman and child knows their name!"

"What happened?" harry asked. Evie did not trust herself to speak.

Hagrid looked anxious.

"I never expected this… I had no idea. Dumbledore told me that there will be some problems, but I didn' know. Well, someone's gotta. Yeh can't leave not knowin'. I can't tell yeh everything. It's a mystery, big parts of it. It begins, with a person called- called- oh that's right, yeh don't know his name. It's incredible. Everyone does.

"What is his name?" asked Evie who calmed herself down.

"I wish I didn't have to say it… people are still scared, yeh know. He was bad. Worse than bad. Bad as possible. His name was- Voldemort." He let out a great shudder. "Anyway, he about twenty years ago wanted followers. Got some, too, but mostly because people were scared of him to not obey. Dark days, they were. Not knowing if you could trust someone. Terrible things happened. Some stood up to him. He killed them. He was very unmerciful. The only person he was afraid of was Dumbledore. Didn't dare try and take Hogwarts. Not with Dumbledore around.

"Yer mum an dad were the greatest witch an wizard I ever knew. Head boy and girl in their day! You- Know- Who never tried to get them on his side. They were too close to Dumbledore. Might have thought he could persuade them. Maybe he just wanted them dead. All I know is that he turned up on Halloween night ten years ago. Yeh two were only a year old."

He pulled out a very dirty and large handkerchief from another pocket and blew his nose very loudly.

"I'm sorry… it's just so sad. Knew them, meself. Yeh couldn't find two nicer people. Anyway- he killed them. And this is the mystery. He tried to kill you two. Why he would want to kill babies, I don know. Maybe he wanted to make a clean job. Or maybe he just liked killing by then. Didn't you ever wonder where the scars came from? That is not an ordinary cut. A powerful, evil curse touched yeh both. Took care of yer mum and dad, destroyed the house, but not yeh two. That's why ye famous. After all the killing he did, he killed the greatest names of the time, he couldn't kill two babies. Yeh was only babies, and yeh lived."

He looked at them in wonder. Evie thought of the green light again, and heard something she never heard before. A cold, hard, cruel laugh. Her eyes widened as she looked at Harry.

"I've never heard that before," he said. She shook her head in agreement.

"I took yeh from the house meself, an' brought yeh to this lot..." Hagrid said.

"Load of bosh," said Uncle Vernon. He seemed to have his courage back.

"Now you listen here and listen well. I know there are strange things about you. A good beating wouldn't cure that though. As for your parents, they were crazy weirdoes. The world is better off without them. I knew they would come to a sticky end. I always knew it-"

At that last comment, Hagrid leaped up from the sofa and drew a battered light pink umbrella from yet another pocket. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon, he said, "I swear, Dursley, one more word and I'll…"

Being speared on an umbrella was obviously not on Uncle Vernon's bucket list. He flattened against the wall, silent.

"That's better," said Hagrid.

But there were still many questions to be asked.

"Hagrid," Evie asked. "What happened to You- Know-Who?"

"Good question. He disappeared. The exact same night he tried to kill you. Makes you two even more famous. He was getting more powerful. Why did he go away? Some say he died. But I don't know if he had enough human in him to die. Some say he lost his powers, and is too weak to carry on. Something about you two stumped him alright! There was something going on that night."

He looked at them with respect and admiration. Evie looked back. If she had defeated the most powerful and evil wizard in the world, why did she spend so much time being kicked around?

"Hagrid, I'm very sorry, but there is no way I could be a witch," Evie said.

"Same here," said Harry. "Except… I can't be a wizard. Not a witch."

Evie rolled her eyes at him. He stuck his tongue out at her.

Hagrid just chuckled. "Not a witch an' wizard? Never made things happen when you were scared, or maybe angry?"

Evie thought. "The toaster," she said finally.

"What?" Harry seemed mystified.

"When I knocked the toaster off the counter. I was scared it was going to crash, and I would get in trouble, then it floated a few inches off the ground, and then it set itself down," Evie explained. "Do you not remember?"

"Now I do," Said Harry.

"See what I mean?" said Hagrid. "Lilly and James Potter's children, not a witch an' wizard? You'll be famous at Hogwarts. Just wait."

Uncle Vernon spoke up again.

"I told you they are not going. They will attend Stonewall and be grateful for it! I read the letter. They need spell books and wands and all sorts of rubbish."

"If they are willing to go, a Muggle like you can't stop them. They have been down on the list since they were born. They can meet new friends of their own sort. And, they will be under the greatest wizard of all time, Albus Dumbledo-"

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR A CRACKPOT FOOL TO TEACH THEM MAGIC TRICKS!" screamed Uncle Vernon.

"DO-NOT-INSULT-ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE- IN-FRONT-OF-ME!" Hagrid thundered. He raised his umbrella over his head and brought it down to point at Dudley. There was a flash of light, then a pop, and then Dudley was dancing with his hands over his rear end. There was a pig's tail poking out of the pajamas.

A roar came from Uncle Vernon. He pulled Aunt Petunia and Dudley to the other room and slammed the door shut. Hagrid looked at his umbrella.

"I shouldn'ta done that. Meant to turn him into a pig. But, he was probably so much like one already there was nothing else to do. Please don't tell anyone at Hogwarts I did that. I'm not allowed to use magic," he explained. "I could do a bit to follow you, and give yeh the letters."

"Why can't you do magic? Aren't you a wizard?" Evie asked.

"Yeah, I was at Hogwarts too when I was young. I got expelled, to tell the truth. In third year. Snapped my wand an' everything. Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Good man, he is," Hagrid said with affection.

"Why were you expelled?" Harry inquired.

"It's late, and we have lots of places to go. We gotta get yer books, Evie an' Harry."

He threw the coat to them.

"Don't worry if it wiggles. There might be mice in a pocket."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I do not even own Harry Potter. Please review!**

Evie woke as usual, by Harry shaking her awake. She suddenly remembered the events of the previous day. She shot up, banging her head against his.

"OW! What was that for?' he said angrily.

"Sorry," Evie said guiltily.

She took off Hagrid's huge coat and yawned. There was then a rapping noise coming from the window. It turned out to be an owl with a newspaper in its beak. Harry scrambled to get it. Evie grinned hugely, for a moment she had thought it was a dream. But it was true; she and Harry were leaving the Dursleys! Harry opened the window, and the owl flew in and promptly started attacking Hagrid's coat.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Harry protested. He tried to wave the owl out of the coat, but it didn't work.

Evie rushed over and shook Hagrid.

"Hagrid! There's an owl…"

"Pay 'im," Hagrid mumbled.

"What?' Said Harry, still fighting the owl.

"He wants to be paid fer diliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets," he explained.

Look in the pockets? Evie wondered. But it was nothing but pockets! She and Harry furiously went through the pockets, finally pulling out some coins. She wondered how the owls know to deliver papers and get payment.

"Give him five Knuts." Hagrid said sleepily.

"Knuts?" the twins asked simultaneously.

"The little bronze ones," He answered

Harry handed Evie five Knuts, then Evie put them into a small pouch on the owl's leg. The owl flew off.

Hagrid had roused himself by then and stretched.

"We best be off, lots to do. We gotta buy all yer stuff fer school."

Evie smiled, and then looked at Harry. There was a crease on his forehead.

"Hagrid, how will we pay for this? You heard uncle Vernon last night, he won't pay for us." He sounded very scared.

Don't you worry about that," Hagrid said. "Did yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anythin'?"

"But the house was destroyed," Evie said. She was worried too now.

"They didn't leave their gold in the house? Nah, firs' stop is Gringotts. Have a sausage. Not the best breakfast, but it'll do."

"There's a wizard bank?" Evie was mystified.

"Just one. Gringotts, its run by goblins."

Evie felt her jaw drop. "Goblins?" she said in a small voice.

"Yeah. The only kind of person who'd rob them is mad. Never mess with goblins, ever. Gringotts is the safest place in the world for anything important. 'Cept Hogwarts. I gotta visit Gringotts to, meself. Fer business fer Dumbledore. He lets me do important business, see?" he drew himself up proudly.

Evie finished eating the sausage, and then they waited for Harry. Evie teased him about how slow he was. He got quite annoyed, which was funny. They followed Hagrid to the rock. The sky and water were much better than last night. The boat was shockingly still there, only now with water on the bottom.

"How did you get here, Hagrid?" Evie asked.

I flew," said Hagrid sheepishly.

"FLEW?" Evie and Harry said at the same time.

Hagrid chuckled. "Yeah, but we're going back in this." He gestured to the boat. Not supposed to use magic now I've got yeh."

They settled down after scooping out the water.

"It seems quite a shame ter row, though." He gave a sideways look. "You wouldn't say if I was to-speed things up a bit, right?"

"Oh no," Evie said. "We won't say."

Harry nodded agreement.

Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped the side of the boat, and then they sped off to land.

"Why would you be mad to rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.

"There are spells and enchantments. They say that dragons guard high security vault. Its hundreds of miles under London, yeh see. Yeh'd die of hunger before yeh get yer hands on anything."

Hagrid continued reading the newspaper. It was called the Dailey Prophet. Uncle Vernon hated to be disturbed while he was reading the newspaper, and Evie assumed the same for Hagrid. He muttered something under his breath about the ministry of magic.

"There's a ministry of magic?" Harry blurted out. Evie cuffed him on the head. He didn't like that.

"Of course." Hagrid looked mildly shocked. "They wanted Dumbledore fer minister. He didn't leave Hogwarts, though, so Cornelius Fudge got the job. He keeps on peltin' Dumbledore fer advice every mornin."

"What does the Ministry do?" asked Evie.

"Keeps order. The main job is to keep magic from Muggles."

"Why?" Evie asked.

"Why?" Hagrid echoed. "Everyone'd want magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we hafta be left alone."

The boat bumped into the harbor wall. They went up the stone steps into the street. People stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked to the station. Hagrid was twice as tall as normal, and he kept pointing to normal things, and talked about how strange it was, and about the ingenuity of Muggles.

"Hagrid," Harry asked. "Did you say that Gringotts had dragons?"

"Well, so they say," Hagrid replied. "Crikey. I'd like a dragon."

"WHAT?" Evie could not believe her ears.

"I wanted one since I was a kid. Here we go," Hagrid said as they reached the station.

They made it just in time. There was a train to London in five minutes. Hagrid didn't understand "Muggle Money" so he gave some bills to the twins to sort out.

There was more staring on the train. Hagrid took up two seats, and on top of that, he was knitting what looked like a bright yellow circus tent.

"Yeh two still have yer letters?" he asked them

"Yes, Hagrid," Evie answered.

"Good. There's the list of everything yeh need on the back."

Harry unfolded his letter, and much to both of their surprise, there was indeed a list of things needed.

UNIFORM

Three sets of plain black work robes.

One plain black pointed hat

One pair of protective gloves. (dragon hide or similar)

One black winter cloak with silver fastenings.

BOOKS

The standard book of spells by Miranda Goshawk

A history of magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical theory by Adalbert Waffling

A beginner's guide to transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One thousand magical herbs and fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic beasts and where to find them by Newt Scamander

The dark forces- a guide to self-protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER

One wand

One cauldron pewter standard size two

One set of glass phials

One telescope

One set brass scales

_Students may bring an owl, cat, or toad_

FIRST YEARS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO HAVE A BROOMSTICK

"Wow," Evie was in shock.

"Can we get all of this?" asked Harry.

"Of course," Hagrid answered.

They had never been to London before. They were always left behind when aunt Petunia and uncle Vernon took Dudley.

Hagrid knew where he was going, but was not used to getting there (wherever there was) the normal way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier, and complained it was too slow.

"I don't know how Muggles manage," he mused to Evie. They climbed a staircase that led to a busy road with many shops. He was very big, and parted the crowd easily. All Evie and Harry had to do was stay behind him.

Evie started getting scared. There were all types of stores, but nowhere that even looked as if a wand could be sold. But for some strange reason she trusted Hagrid, and followed him down the street. There were restaurants and cinemas. But it was an ordinary street. There was not a hint of magic to be found.

"Is this all a joke?" Harry whispered to Evie.

"Do you think they even have a sense of humor?" she asked back.

He smiled nervously at her. She took his hand in hers. Everything will be all right as long as they were together. That's the way it always was.

"This is it," Hagrid said. "The Leaky Cauldron. It's quite famous."

It was a grubby looking pub. Aunt petunia would have a heart attack just looking at it. Evie looked down the street. Nobody seemed as if they could see the pub. Their eyes just skipped over it. She had a feeling that she, Harry and Hagrid were the only ones who could see it. Hagrid walked inside, and Evie tugged Harry along to follow.

Inside it was very dark. Some old women sat in the corner drinking out of tiny crystal glasses. One was smoking a very long pipe. The bartender was quite old and bald. The chatter stopped when they all entered. Everyone looked as if to know Hagrid, they waved and smiled. The bartender reached for a glass asking, "Will it be the usual?"

"Not today, I'm on Hogwarts business." Hagrid said proudly, clapping his hands on Harry and Evie's shoulders.

"Lord!" the bartender said. "Are those-?"

The pub had gotten very silent.

"Bless my old soul, Evangeline and Harry potter." The bartender said quietly.

He hurried out from behind the bar and grabbed Evie's hands. "Welcome back, Miss Potter, welcome back."

Evie looked around the bar. Everyone was staring at her. Hagrid was beaming. There was suddenly a great scraping of chairs being pushed back and then Harry and Evie were shaking hands with everyone in the bar.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you at last, Miss Potter, it's such an honor."

"Absolutely delighted, Miss, Diggle is the name, Dedalus Diggle." A man in a purple top hat shook Evie's hand.

"You bowed to me once in a shop!" Evie said. "I remember that. Aunt Petunia was so angry…"

"She remembers me!" Dedalus Diggle said with a large grin.

Evie and Harry shook hands again and again. Suddenly a pale man came forward. He had a large turban on his head, and his eye was twitching.

"Professor Quirrell," Hagrid said. "Professor Quirrell is one of your teachers this year at Hogwarts."

"What sort of class do you teach, professor?" Harry asked him.

"D-Defense against the dark arts," Stuttered the professor. "N-not that you two need it, eh?" he said nervously. "I've got t-to pick up a new book on vampires, m-myself," he said. He did not seem too pleased by the thought.

It was about fifteen minutes before the Leaky Cauldron quieted down. Hagrid ushered the twins out of the pub into a small walled courtyard. It was empty except for a few weeds.

"I told yeh you were famous. Professor Quirrell trembling to meet yeh. But mind, he is always trembling." Hagrid said.

"Is he always so nervous?" Evie asked.

"Yeah. Poor bloke. When he was studying out of books he was fine, but as soon as he took a year to get some experience… they said there was a bad run in with a vampire, and a trouble with a hag. Scared of the students, and scared of the subject he teaches. Now, where's the umbrella?" he asked.

Hagrid took his umbrella and started counting bricks. "Three up, two across… right, stand back." He tapped the wall three times with the point of the umbrella. A small hole appeared in the brick, and grew wider and wider until they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid. The archway stood on a cobbled street that twisted every way.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Hagrid said.

He grinned at the looks on their faces. They all stepped through the giant archway. Evie turned back to the archway and saw it shrink and be replaced by a solid wall again. The sun shone on them as they made their way down the street. There was a cauldron shop to the right, and it advertised all types of cauldrons, including self-stirring ones.

"You'll need one," Hagrid said, "but yeh need your money first."

"I wish I had more eyes," Harry said.

"Me too." Evie answered.

There was a stout woman outside one of many apothecaries who was shaking her head, saying "Dragon liver's seventeen Sickles an ounce. Mad!"

There was a dark shop that said "Eeyops Owl Emporium; the finest owls in the magic world."

Some boys had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. Evie laughed out loud.

"What?" Hagrid asked.

"Do wizards actually travel by broomstick?" Evie asked.

"One of many ways to travel," he answered. "Why?"

"It's just so stereotypical!" she said.

There were shops that sold robes, and shops that sold telescopes and silver instruments that Evie never saw before. Some shops had spell books, while others had their windows stacked with bat eyes and eel spleens.

"Gringotts." Hagrid said.

There was a massive white building that towered over all the rest. There was a set of giant bronze doors, and standing guard was...

"That's a goblin." Hagrid said.

The goblin was about three feet tall, and had black eyes and a pointed beard. Evie noticed that the fingers were very long. The goblin bowed to them as they walked in. they then faced a second set of doors, but these were engraved with words.

Enter, stranger but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed.

For those o take, but do not earn,

Must pay dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors,

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware.

Of finding more than treasure there.

"I said you'd be mad to try to rob Gringotts." Hagrid said.

Another goblin bowed as they went through the doors with the warning and they entered a giant marble hall. There were about a hundred goblins sitting behind a long counter, writing in books, weighing coins and jewels on scales. Hagrid ushered them to a free goblin.

"Hello. We've come to take some money outta the Potter safe." He said.

"You have the key, sir?" the goblin inquired.

"Somewhere, just a minute," Hagrid said as he started to empty his pockets onto the counter. Some moldy dog biscuits were scattered on the goblin's book he was writing in. the goblin wrinkled his nose distastefully.

"Got it here," Hagrid said, handing a small gold key to the goblin, who examined it closely.

"Everything seems to be in order." The goblin said.

"I've also got a letter from Albus Dumbledore, it's about vault seven hundred and thirteen." Hagrid said, handing the goblin a letter.

The letter was examined closely by the goblin.

"Very well. I will send Griphook to take you to each vault. Griphook!" he called.

Griphook was another goblin. Evie followed Griphook to one of the doors leading up to the hall. She turned around and saw that Hagrid was busy cramming all the moldy dog biscuits in his coat again. They waited until Hagrid and Harry caught up with them.

"What is so important about vault 713?" Evie asked.

"Can't tell yeh that." Hagrid said. "Hogwarts business. Dumbledore trusted me."

Griphook held the door open, and they entered a narrow stone passage lit with torches. There was a steep slope down and there was a little railway track on the floor. Griphook whistled and a cart came to them. They all climbed in, and they were off.

They hurtled through a maze of passages, which twisted every way. Evie wanted to shout with joy. "This is what a roller coaster is like," she thought. The cart was not steered by Griphook, it knew its way around.

"Look!" Harry pointed to their right. There was a flash of color and they spun around. But it was too late; the cart plunged farther down the passageway. There was even an underground lake.

"Hagrid, how does this all happen?" Harry asked.

"Don't know. Don't talk to me, I'll be sick," Hagrid said. He did look green. When the cart stopped by a small door in the wall, he climbed out and leaned against the wall. Griphook unlocked the door. Some green smoke billowed out, and then Harry and Evie gasped together.

There were mounds of gold coins, and columns of silver, and heaps of Knuts.

"All yours," Hagrid said.

Incredible. If the Dursleys knew of this, they would have taken it, Evie was sure. They hated the magical world, that was sure, but their hatred didn't extend to money.

Hagrid helped them pile it all into a bag, and then they went deeper into the bank. The air was colder, and Evie drew her shirt around her more tightly. The cart seemed to go even faster, and Evie edged away from Hagrid. He looked very sick.

The cart stopped at the vault, and Griphook let them outside. "Stand back" he said, and he touched the door. It disappeared.

"If anyone else tried that, the door would suck them in, and they couldn't get out," Griphook explained.

"Weird," Evie said, awestruck. She expected to see what she saw in her vault, but there was nothing like that in vault 713. There was only a small package. Hagrid put it in his pocket, and climbed back into the cart. He closed his eyes and warned the twins not to talk to him. They stayed as far away from him as possible in the small cart, and before Evie knew it, she was standing in the sun, holding a small bag of money.

"What do we do know?" she asked.

"I don't know, but let's give Hagrid some time," Harry said. Hagrid was leaning against the wall, and passersby were giving him distance.

"Do yeh mind if I go to the Leaky Cauldron for a bit? I hate them Gringotts carts," Hagrid said.

"Alright," the twins said.

"But what do we do know?" Harry asked.

"Go there," Hagrid pointed at a store called Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. "Get your school uniform, she knows what to do."

They entered the store alone.

"Hello, Hogwarts?" a witch asked. She was plump, with a kind smile.

"Yes," they said together.

She put each of them on a stool, and a tape measure was used to measure arms, hips, and legs. The witch and an assistant worked on Harry and Evie and another worked on another boy. He was pale, with white blond hair and a face like he just bit into a lemon.

"Hogwarts?" he asked.

"Yes," Evie said. The boy was on her left, so thankfully, he didn't see her scar. Harry was lucky; he could hide it under his bangs.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll smuggle it in somehow." He sounded bored and superior.

Evie looked to Harry and wrinkled her nose. Harry mimed vomiting.

"Have you got your own brooms, or play Quiddich at all?" the boy asked.

The twins shook their heads.

"Do you know what house you'll be in? My family is from Slytherin, father said that it'll be a crime if I don't get in. if it's Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the boy went on.

Evie wondered what she'd have to do to get him to shut up. From the look on Harry's face, he was thinking the same.

"Look at that man!" the boy said suddenly. Evie jumped, causing the witch who was measuring her ropes to stick her with the pin. Hagrid was waving, and had two ice creams, causing Evie to smile.

"Sorry," she said to the assistant.

"That's Hagrid, he works for Hogwarts," Harry told the boy.

"Oh yes, he's a servant, isn't he?" the boy said.

"He's the gamekeeper," Harry answered coldly. Although the twins had only known Hagrid less than a day, they both felt very protective of him. He did, after all, save them both.

"I heard he's a sort of savage, because he lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed." The boy said.

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.

"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" he asked judgmentally.

"They're dead," said Harry shortly.

"Oh, sorry," said the boy, but he didn't sound sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

"They went to Hogwarts too, if that's what you're talking about," Evie butted in.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same; they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

The assistant who was working on Evie said, "You're all finished, it'll only be a moment," and helped her off the stool. Harry finished also, and didn't answer the boy's questions.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy. The twins hurried away, paid for their robes, and left the store.

While they were eating, they didn't talk much. It was just so much information to take in.

"Is something wrong?" Hagrid asked.

Evie shook her head, and Harry said "no," quietly.

After that, they stopped to buy parchment and quills. Evie didn't like the scratching noise of the quill, and wanted more than anything a ballpoint pen. But there was none to be seen.

Harry showed Evie a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, Harry asked, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!" Hagrid said, surprised.

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry.

Evie and Harry both told Hagrid about what the boy said.

"Are you sure we can be allowed in the school? We're from a Muggle family," Evie said.

"You are absolutely going to Hogwarts!" Hagrid said. "If that boy was from a wizarding family, he grew up knowing your name!" he went on to explain about Quidditch, and the houses. "It's better to get Hufflepuff than Slytherin, every bad and dark wizard was in Slytherin," Hagrid said.

"Even the name doesn't sound too good," Evie said.

They then entered the bookstore for the school books, and Evie was astounded at the subject range the store offered. There were curses, hexes, and jinxes. Harry wanted to curse Dudley, but Hagrid refused.

"You're not allowed to use magic in the Muggle world unless you have to." He said.

The next stop was the apothecary, and they bought their supplies for potions, another class Evie was happy for.

"One stop left, and that's a wand," Hagrid said. "Blimey, I haven't got yeh birthday presents!"

"You don't have to, this is a gift enough!" Evie said.

"Please, Hagrid, there's no need," Harry said.

"I insist." Hagrid said. He pushed them into an animal shop, and when they emerged, Harry had a snow white owl, and Evie had a tawny brown owl.

"We just need your wands now," said Hagrid. "We're going to Olliviander's, best wands in the wizarding world."

Evie looked at the sign as they strode up to the store. Apparently they were in business since 382 BC. A bell rang as the door opened. The shop was gloomy, but Evie didn't say anything, she just stared. There were boxes and boxes piled high to the ceiling, and there was an atmosphere- she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Hello," a voice said. Everybody jumped. A man with large silver eyes was staring at them. Evie took a step back, but the man followed her. He looked at Harry.

"I thought I would be seeing you again. You have your father's eyes, you know," he said to Evie.

"Thank you," she said.

"I remember him clearly. Mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration," the man said. He turned to Harry. "You have your mother's eyes. I remember her as well. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work. The wand chooses the wizard, you know. Or witch," he amended, looking at Evie. Suddenly, he touched her scar, and a look of regret flashed across his eyes.

""Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands … well, if I'd known what that wand was going to do…" he said.

"It's alright," Evie said.

Ollivander remembered Hagrid. Apparently Hagrid had been expelled from Hogwarts, but around Ollivander he clutched his pink umbrella tightly.

"Wand arms?" Ollivander asked and Harry and Evie stuck their right hands out. He flung two tape measures to the ground, and suddenly, the twins were surrounded in a whirlwind of activity. Wands were being thrown at them and taken away as quickly. The tape measures were acting independently, even measuring the width of one of Evie's eyes!

The longer it took, the happier the man seemed to become. Suddenly, he sobered. "Yes, yes, three," he muttered to himself. He walked away to the back of the shop, and returned slowly. In his hand were two boxes. "Phoenix feather and maple, and holly." He said.

Harry and Evie took a wand, and each waved it. Nothing.

"Give it here," she said, and she and Harry traded wands.

A surge of happiness rushed through her, and purple and gold sparks flew out of the wand. Hagrid applauded, and Ollivander smiled.

While they were paying, Mr. Ollivander kept saying, "curious, three," over and over again.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

The man paused. "I remember every wand I've ever sold. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave three feathers. You hold two of them. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you those scars. It's very curious. But we expect great things from you two." With that, he gave them their wands, and they left the store.

They took the route they used back to the Muggle world. Evie was nervous. She didn't know anything, yet everyone expected so much from her. "I'm only 11!" she wanted to scream.

"Hagrid, how can everyone expect so much from us? We don't know anything!" Harry said.

"Don' you worry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. If your parents are anything to go by, you will be the greatest witch and wizard of your time. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact." He handed them their tickets. "Train leaves September first. Don't miss it. Any problems send me an owl. They know how to find me. See yeh two soon," he said.

Harry and Evie boarded the train to the Dursleys, and suddenly Harry gasped.

Hagrid, the seven foot tall Hagrid, had vanished.


	5. Chapter 5

**I finally finished chapter five! hope you like it, and as always, please review or look at my other works, my Percy Jackson/Twilight crossover is quite popular.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

><p>That last month before the Potters left for Hogwarts was terrible. Good, in some ways, but terrible in others. Dudley left them alone, but they were treated like they were invisible. Harry always wanted to try something with the wand and using the new spell book, but Evie talked him out of it. It would be just their luck to get in trouble before anything really happened.<p>

Harry named his owl Hedwig after someone in his textbook, and Evie named her owl Moriarty, after the character in Sherlock, because he was quite the evil mastermind. He always put the dead rats at the bottom of Hedwig's cage while she wasn't looking so he wouldn't get in trouble. Also, she was finishing up the Sherlock Holmes series. They were wonderful.

As September first grew closer, the excitement grew. Evie packed all of her clothes neatly in her trunk, while Harry, being true to himself, announced that he really couldn't stop reading the fascinating textbook and he'd do it later. She'd rolled her eyes at that, but decided to let the sleeping dog lie.

But the real problem would be who would ask for a ride to London. They'd argued (lightly), played countless rounds of rock paper scissors, and drawn straws but nobody would volunteer. Eventually they decided to do what they normally did, split the work.

"Uncle Vernon?" Evangeline asked on august 31st.

"What?" he barked back, his face already growing red.

"We need to go to King's Cross, to go to Hogwarts," Harry said.

Uncle Vernon just grunted at that.

"Will you take us?" Evie asked after a pause.

He just gave another grunt, but his face got less red.

"Thank you," Harry said. They turned around to head back upstairs, thankful that was over with.

"It's curious, though," uncle Vernon said snidely, "that they use the train to get to a magic school. Do the carpets all have holes in them?" he laughed at his own joke.

"We just need to be at platform nine and three quarters at eleven," Evie said.

"Platform what?" aunt petunia asked.

"Nine and three quarters," Evie repeated.

"Barking mad, all of them," Vernon said. "But we have to go up to London anyway, have to get that ruddy tail removed before Dudders is off to Smeltings."

Thankfully that was the end of the conversation and the twins escaped back up the stairs. Harry woke her up at five the next morning already dressed and jumping around the room packing for the upcoming year. They dressed in their jeans and t shirts because they didn't want strange looks on the way to the station. Hedwig and Moriarty were in their cages patiently waiting to leave. Evie had checked and double checked that she had everything ready and dusted concealer over her scar. She remembered how everyone stared and hoped against hope that covering her scar would help everyone treat her normally, if there was a normal in the wizarding world. Harry vehemently resisted the concealer, but his bangs could cover his scar well enough, so she let it slide. She instead focused on tying her shoulder length hair back perfectly, the way she always did before ballet class.

After two hours of nervous waiting, the trunks were packed in the car, aunt petunia had convinced Dudley to sit next to Evie much to her dismay, and they were off to King's Cross. When they arrived, uncle Vernon surprisingly helped them load their luggage on trolleys, and walked them to platform nine. When they arrived at the platform the reason for uncle Vernon's 'kindness' became clear.

"Here's platform nine, and there's platform ten. Doesn't look like they made the 9 ¾ platform yet, did they?" he asked nastily. "Have a nice year!" he called and walked away to where Dudley and aunt petunia were laughing.

Evie felt like her chest was closing in on her. She struggled to draw breath, and black spots started dancing on the corner of her vision.

"Evie! Evie sit down!" a voice said from far away. She dimly recognized Harry's voice. Eventually her senses came back to her and she could breathe.

"What are we going to do?" she croaked to Harry. "There's no platform! It's all a lie, of course it's not here!" she stopped, tears blurring her vision. "Where are we going to go?" she looked around and saw that people were staring but trying to look like they weren't. The owls attracted the looks.

"Wait!" he said, turning around suddenly. Evie focused on taking deep breaths. "Come on!" he said suddenly, hoisting her up and diving into the crowd. She got up and followed him quickly. They couldn't afford to be separated. Eventually the crowd thinned out and she was behind Harry back at the wall between platform nine and ten. There was a large group of red haired people. And one of them had an owl!

"Oh thank goodness, we can ask for help!" Evie said, wiping away her tears.

"Alright Percy, you first," the woman said. She was holding the hand of a little girl, who was asking if she could go too. Evie watched the boy, Percy march toward the wall and disappear.

"Fred, you next," the woman said. "No Ginny, you can't go! You're not old enough yet!"

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," the boy said.

"Alright George," she said tiredly.

"Just kidding, I am Fred," the boy said. He disappeared as well into the wall.

"Excuse me," Harry asked the plump woman hesitantly.

"Oh hello dears!" she said, smiling warmly. "First year? Ron's new too," she gestured to a thin boy with red hair, freckles, and a long nose. Evie smiled at him politely. His mouth twitched in response.

"It's just that we… how do we get on the platform?" Harry asked.

"Well now," she said, pointing at the barrier between the platforms, "all you do is walk straight toward the wall, best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"We have to walk into a wall?" Evie asked. "We'll get a concussion!"

"What's that?" the woman asked blankly.

"Never mind," Evie said quickly. "Well, let's go, I guess." She looked at Harry. "Can't get any worse, can it?"

"No, I don't think it can," he said. They started walking toward the wall together. Evie picked up speed, and closed her eyes, waiting for the crash and the screeching owls.

There was none. Instead when she opened her eyes she was staring at a red train and to her right there was a large sign saying "Hogwarts express-platform 9 ¾".

"We did it!" Harry said triumphantly.

Evie's eyes started watering again- tears of relief. They weren't alone, and they weren't the victims of a cruel prank. They were going to Hogwarts! They walked to the end of the train, where there were empty seats. They put the owls inside first and got Evie's trunk on but had trouble with Harry's.

"What did you put in here?" Evie asked. "Mine's lighter, and I'm a girl!"

"Do you need a hand?" one of the red haired twins asked them.

"Yes please," Evie said, shooting Harry a dirty look.

The three of them managed to get Harry's trunk into the corner of the compartment. There were a few cobwebs in the corner, and Evie tried to politely spit them out of her face. She scrubbed them away with her coat sleeve, and then noticed some pale dust on her jacket. She looked at Harry, about to ask him what it was, and then realized she had just rubbed off the last bit of her concealer and Harry had pushed his sweaty bangs away from his forehead.

"Are you…. are you Evangeline and Harry potter?" the twin said, awestruck.

Drat.

Harry noticed his mistake too late. "Oh, yes, we are," he said shortly.

"Thank you for your help," Evie said politely, hoping that he'd leave.

Just then the second worst possible thing happened. "Fred! There you are-oh, are you...oh wow!" the other twin, presumably George, stared at Evie and Harry with wide eyes.

"Fred? George? Where did you go off too?" a female voice asked.

With one last look at the twins, the twins got out of the compartment.

"Well that was interesting," Evie said with a sad smile to Harry.

Harry had floated over to the window where he could watch the ginger family. Evie could see why, the only family they had weren't nearly as nice as the one in front of them.

"Where's Percy?" the mother asked. "Oh darling, there you are!" she opened her arms and embraced a boy who had already changed into his school robes. There was a quite large silver badge with the letter P on it.

"I have to go, mother, the prefects have compartments-" he started only to be quickly interrupted by the twins.

"Oh! You're a prefect? You should've said something, we had no idea!" one said dramatically. Evie smiled at that.

"Wait! I do remember he said something about it-"

"Once,"

"Or twice,"

"All summer,"

"Oh shut up," Percy the prefect said. He promised to send his mother an owl when he got to Hogwarts, then turned on his heel and walked off.

"Now," their mother said, turning around and fixing the twins with a death glare, "I want no trouble from you, you hear? If I get an owl telling that you've...blown up a toilet or something..."

"We should try that, actually!" one twin said.

"Thanks for the idea, mum!" the other said.

"It's not funny!" the mother said sternly. "And look after Ron."

"Ronnie will be safe with us," one twin said, his hands clasped to his cheek and giving his mother wide eyes.

"Speaking of which, you'll ever guess who we saw on the train just now!" one said.

Evie and Harry dropped to the floor in sync, worried that they'd be seen.

"Evangeline and Harry potter!" the other announced proudly.

"Damn," Evie said, and started rummaging around in her trunk for concealer to replace what she'd wiped off.

"Can we go see them, mum, please," the little girl started pleading with her mother.

"You've seen them once, poor dears. No wonder they're alone. They were so polite, asking for directions," the woman trailed off.

"How does it look?" Evie asked Harry.

"How does what look?" he asked back.

"Good answer," she said.

"We saw the scars, really, like lightning," one twin said. "I wonder if they know what you-know-who looks like."

"Absolutely not! I forbid you to ask them that, poor children. They don't need that from you, understand?"

"Fine mum," one boy said dramatically.

The whistle sounded loudly and the train gave a small lurch and started moving very slowly.

"Get on!" the mother said and the two boys jumped on the train. The little girl began to cry.

"Don't cry Ginny! We'll send you load of owls!" one said.

"And we'll send you a toilet seat!" one chirped up.

"FRED!" their mother said.

"Just kidding!"

The girl ran next to the train until she couldn't keep up and then she just waved frantically at her brothers. Evie wondered what that felt like, being so close to someone that you couldn't bear them being away. The only person she could think of w as Harry, but they did everything together anyways.

The door sliding open startled Evie, but she saw the youngest ginger standing there.

"Can I sit here? Everywhere else was full," he said apologetically.

"Of course," Evie said and she went back to looking out the window. There were houses zipping by outside.

"Hey Ron," a now slightly familiar voice said. Evie turned back to see a twin. "We're going down the train, Lee has a giant tarantula. You'll be alright here, wont you?" they asked.

Ron looked embarrassed for some reason but Evie thought the twin was nice. They wanted to take care of their little brother, it was clear.

"Did we introduce ourselves, Fred and George Weasley, at your service. This is Ron, our younger brother. See you!' and with that, they left.

"Is it true?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Harry said, showing Ron his scar quickly before smoothing his hair down.

"Do you remember anything?" Ron asked.

"No!" Evie said sharply. Was this all people wanted to talk to her about? What it was like when her parents died?

Ron turned pink, clearly embarrassed and looked out the window.

"Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked, trying to change the topic.

"Mostly. Mum has a second cousin who's an accountant so we don't talk about him," Ron said.

"But you have two brothers and a sister, that's nice," Harry said wistfully.

"Four brothers, not just two," Ron said gloomily. "They've all been to Hogwarts; I'll have a lot to live up to. But what are muggles like?"

Harry said something, but a bobbing blond head in the hallway caught Evie's attention.

"I'll be right back!" she said, quickly getting out of the compartment. "Anthony!" she called out, hoping her hunch was right.

It was. Anthony Hartman's surprised and happy face turned around to look at her.

"You too?" he asked.

"Yes, me, apparently my parents were. But you?" she asked. She had known Anthony for years; he was the son of her dance teacher. He danced too, often leading to taunts and name calling, but he hadn't given up. Evie was surprised that he had magic, he was about as normal as it could get.

"I was so surprised when I got my letter in the mail!' he said. "I didn't know anything like this existed! But," he said, his face falling, "I don't know anything at all. I've been looking at my books, and it makes no sense! I don't want to fail," he said, sounding terrified.

"We wont, I've heard that there's lots of Muggle borns. Besides, I don't know anything either, so we could help each other out. Besides, I bet they can't dance like us," she added. "Who are you sitting with?"

"Oh! I found another muggle born like me, although she's a bit of work, and a boy. He lost his toad though. Are we supposed to get animals? Mum couldn't afford it, and not everyone has one, so I think it'll be alright, did you get an animal?" he said, stopping abruptly.

One of his quirks was that when he got excited or nervous he babbled. Evie found it hilarious and endearing, although Anthony hated it.

"Yes, Harry and I got an owl, it was our birthday presents. I named mine Moriarty, and it fits him really well," Evie said. "But how do you think they know how to deliver letters? Do you think they're a different species?"

"I dunno," Anthony said, looking overwhelmed. "And why do they all write with quills? Haven't they heard of ballpoint pens?"

Evie giggled. "I actually brought twenty pens with me. I can't stand all that scratching the quills make."

"Anthony!" a slightly sharp voice said. "Have you found it yet?" the voice belonged to a girl with a mass of brown hair and a superior expression.

"No, I haven't, I'm sure it'll turn up, most things do," he said.

The girl just gave a huff and walked off, her hair moving like it was possessed.

"That's her, her name's Hermione," Anthony said. "Help me, for the love of god help me."

Evie laughed and invited him back to her compartment with Ron and Harry. He readily agreed. When they got into the compartment, Evie found that Harry had bought an armload of strange looking sweets.

"He's gone!" he was telling Ron, who was currently blowing a bubble half the size of his head.

"Who is?" Evie asked.

"Hi Anthony!" Harry said, surprised. "You too?"

"Yes, believe me, I'm more surprised than you are," Anthony said.

"This is Ron Weasley," Evie said. "This is my good friend Anthony Hartman," she told Ron.

He popped the bubble and said hi to Anthony.

"Ev, did you know that in wizard photographs, they move?" Harry said.

"Really?" Evie and Anthony said together. Harry put a card in their hand and they watched Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts move in and out of the frame.

"Really, it's weird to you?" Ron said.

"Yeah," they all said.

"Did you buy me anything?" Evie asked Harry.

"Of course I did," he said, rolling his eyes, and Evie sat down and started to eat a pumpkin pastry.

Be careful with those," Ron said, "they mean every flavor. Like one time, George swears he got booger flavored ones."

Evie looked and saw Harry suspiciously examine a package of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans.

They passed the time like that, each daring the other to eat strange and suspicious beans. Evie tried Brussels sprouts, blueberry, rubber, and a red one that tasted strangely like blood.

The door slid open sometime in the late afternoon. "I'm sorry, did you see a toad?" a tearful boy asked.

Anthony stared at his knees intently.

"No, we haven't. We'll tell you if we do," Ron said. The boy nodded and left.

"Wish he'd get lost," Ron said, pointing to Scabbers the rat.

"Why would you say something like that?" Evie asked.

"He's useless! See! Fred taught me a spell to turn him yellow and it didn't even work, look," Ron said, rummaging around in his bag and pulling out a ratty looking wand. "Su-"he started when the door slid open again.

"Have you seen a toad?" a girl asked.

"No we haven't would people quit asking about toads!" Evie practically shrieked. The girl looked taken aback.

"Well that's where you went off to, I was wondering," the girl turned on Anthony, who had yet again found his knees very interesting. "Were you doing magic?" she quickly asked Ron, who still had his wand in his hand.

"Yes," he said haltingly.

"Show me," the girl commanded.

"Alright," Ron said. He cleared his throat and said, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow"

Nothing happened.

"That wasn't very good," the girl announced. "I've tried spells and they've worked for me. Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley?" Ron asked, looking taken aback.

"Harry potter," Harry said.

"Evie, I'm his sister," Evie said, she didn't know what to think of the girl.

"Really?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening. "I know all about you. Well, I'd go change if I were you, we'll be there any minute," and with that she left the compartment.

They all took her advice and changed. Anthony left to go sit with his luggage so it wouldn't get lost. Evie found the button up shirt a bit scratchy, but bearable. The outer robes were warm; something that would help as winter set in, and thankfully she had bought a lighter one for spring. When she got back Harry was listening raptly to Ron talking about houses, apparently his whole family was in Gryffindor. He was firmly against being put in Slytherin. He then switched the topic to Gringotts, the bank. Someone had tried to rob a vault. Evie shivered, she remembered the warning outside the building threatening all kinds of harm to someone who did that.

"What's your Quiddich team?" Ron asked, probably picking up on the fact that houses were vaguely depressing Evie.

"What's Quiddich?" Evie asked.

That was all Ron needed to go on an explanation about Quiddich. As the sky grew darker he was acting out one of the best plays and Evie and Harry sat quietly and laughing together at his facial expressions. Evie idly wondered what it would take to explain smartphones to Ron.

The door slid open and Evie didn't take her eyes from Ron as she called out "no toads!" and kept listening. But Ron turned and his facial expression changed.

It was the boy from the robe shop, and he had two friends with him that looked very mean.

"Is it true? Potters in this compartment?" the boy said.

"Yes," Harry and Evie said together.

"Draco Malfoy," the boy said, extending a thin pale arm.

Ron coughed.

"Think it's funny? Everyone knows that Weasley's have too many ginger children!" Draco spat.

"Hey!" Evie said. She didn't like anyone who made fun of gingers.

"Some families are better than others, you know," the boy said, ignoring her. "I'll help you pick them out."

"No thanks." Harry said.

"Gingers stick together," Evie said.

The boy turned light pink which would have been funny if his two friends didn't look so much like Dudley. They took a step toward Harry when one yelped loudly. Scabbers was hanging off his finger and the boy waved his hand frantically trying to get him off. Scabbers was thrown out the window and with a sneer, Draco and his friends left.

"Scabbers!" Ron said, looking worried, a stark contrast from the hour before.

"Is he dead?" Evie asked.

"No…I can't believe it. He's back asleep!" Ron sat back on his chair. "I'll never say anything bad about him again. I swear I won't."

"What happened here?" Hermione's voice said. Evie rolled her eyes facing the window. "Were you fighting?"

"Scabbers was," Ron said.

She left after telling them to clean up because they were arriving. As she left the announcement went through the train that they were arriving in five minutes.

The train stopped and everyone piled out.

"Where do we go?" Evie asked Ron, thinking he'd know about something.

"I don't know!" he said.

There was a lamp bobbing high in the air and Evie heard Hagrid's voice calling for all first year students. He instructed them to get into a boat, and Hermione followed them in theirs, much to Ron's thinly veiled dismay. Hagrid also found the toad, whose name was Trevor. The boats took off on Hagrid's command and started moving forward quickly. Everyone was silent, and there was a collective gasp when the school came into view. It was a huge castle, with towering spirals and brightly lit windows. There was a curtain of ivy in the path of the boats and everyone ducked and when the boats stopped of their own accord, they climbed out and up the steps to the castle. When Hagrid knocked on the door, the sound echoed loudly. There was silence as the children waited to be let in.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, chapter 6. I hope everyone likes this story, I'll really work hard on updating, it'll make up for the two years I didn't update at all!**

**And of course, feel free to check out my other works.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

><p>"Firs years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.<p>

"Thank you Hagrid, I will take it from here," she said in a voice that matched her demeanor.

She pulled the huge doors open wide and there was a collective gasp from all the children. The ceiling was huge, arching over their heads so high that they couldn't make anything out. The entrance hall was incredibly large-Evie thought the whole of the Dursley's house could've fit in there with some room to spare.

They all followed Professor McGonagall into the hall. With a flick of her wand, the doors closed with a dull thud. Evie felt butterflies start up in her stomach at the first bit of magic she'd seen since Diagon Alley. There was a muffled noise coming from behind another pair of huge doors, the rest of the school must be there already. Evie caught Anthony's eye from the other side of the crowd. He looked like he was going to be sick, and Hermione was whispering something to him excitedly. Evie didn't know which was worse, the first day of school, or having Hermione next to you.

"Attention!" the Professor said sharply. The children immediately quieted. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she began. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is important because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. Your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all fix yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

She glanced at Neville's cloak, which was crooked, and Harry's hair. He tried in vain to flatten it as she walked away, and Evie pulled his hand down.

"It's not like it'd do any good," she said, elbowing him and smiling.

He reluctantly put his arm down, fidgeting nervously.

"Have you heard anything about it?" Evie asked Ron, who looked as good as Anthony did.

"Fred and George said it's a test," Ron said.

"It can't be," Evie said, trying to comfort Harry, "we don't know anything."

He opened his mouth to reply, but jumped when people shrieked behind them. Evie turned and saw the pearly translucent bodies of people floating in the air, going through the walls. They were talking about something, completely oblivious to the group of children under them.

"Peeves' had all the second chances he's going to get from me," one said vehemently.

"His second chances get second chances," one agreed, "enough is enough! I say, what are you doing here?"

They peered down at the terrified group. Nobody responded.

"First years, is it not?" a plump translucent man asked.

They all nodded mutely in response.

"I hope to see you in Hufflepuff, my old house!" he said.

"Move along now," Professor McGonagall said, coming out again. "The ceremony begins soon."

The ghosts seemed to bend under her authority as well, because they filtered through the walls quickly.

"Form a line and follow me," the Professor announced and walked toward the doors separating the first years from everyone else.

Evie nervously tugged at her robes and made sure her hair was pinned securely. She held Harry's arm tightly. Ron was behind them, and for some reason Hermione and Anthony was behind Ron. Evie tried to tune out her whisperings and focused on making it through the Great Hall.

It was like walking into another dimension. There were thousands of candles hung in midair, but for some reason there was no wax dripping down on children below. There was no ceiling, only a sky, but no chill in the air. Four long tables were packed with students that were chattering excitedly, and there were teachers up front, seated in front of a huge stained glass window.

She led them so the teachers were behind them and they were in front of the students. There were what seemed like thousands of eyes staring at them, and Evie focused on the floor and taking deep breaths. There was complete silence.

"Look!" Harry whispered to her.

Professor McGonagall had placed a stool in front of the students and put a dirty hat on it. There was still complete silence. The hat twitched, making Evie jump, and then started to sing through what looked like a rip but was used like a mouth.

It listed the merits of each house, and then bragged about itself a bit near the end. Once it finished, the school burst into applause then quieted down as the Professor stood near the stool.

"When I call your name, sit on the stool and put on the hat to be Sorted," she announced. "Abbot, Hannah!"

"That's it?" Ron asked. "Fred said I'd have to wrestle a troll, oh I'm going to kill him!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted and a cheer went up from a table.

Evie breathed a huge sigh of relief. All they had to do was put on a hat. After every Sorting the table of the house would let up a cheer, making no mistake where each house table was. The only downside was that the names were listed in alphabetical order, making Harry and Evie one of the last to be sorted. But that was alright. When "Brown, Lavender" became the first Gryffindor Evie glanced at the table and saw Ron's twin brothers whistling.

"Hartman, Anthony!" Professor McGonagall said.

Evie crossed her fingers as he went up and put the hat on his head. After about thirty seconds the hat screamed "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the table went up in cheers.

"Maybe we could get Hufflepuff too!" Evie whispered.

"Maybe," Harry said. "If Anthony's in it, it can't be so bad, can it?"

Sometimes the hat took a while to decide which house a student belonged in. some students sat with the hat on for up to two minutes or so before the hat made a decision. Neville's Sorting was the funniest; he was clutching his toad tightly and sat on the stool for what seemed like an eternity. The toad let out a large croak that broke the silence, but then the hat screamed "GRYFFINDOR" and Neville ran off still wearing the hat.

Evie watched Malfoy walk up to the seat and the hat touched his head for a second before it announced him a Slytherin.

Evie felt her stomach tighten as they went through the last names starting with P. would everyone make fun of her? Would they stare the way people did at Diagon Alley? What if she wasn't sorted at all and had to go back to the Dursleys? Or worse-what if she and Harry were separated? That thought made her practically sick to her stomach.

"Potter, Evangeline!" Professor McGonagall said. It sounded like she was very far away.

Evie stepped forward, careful not to trip on her robes and sat down, facing the school. There was a low murmur that swept over the crowd and Evie could see people craning their necks before the weight of the hat settled on her head and the brim obscured her view.

"Hm," a small voice said. "Interesting. What to do? My goodness you can prove yourself," it went on. "You'd make a fine Slytherin, but…"

"Don't you dare," Evie whispered, thinking of Malfoy. "I swear if you put me in that house I will walk out of here and never come back." Anything but Slytherin, she thought.

"Really?" the voice replied. "Are you sure? Well, then I suppose it must be GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word was shouted and Evie felt Professor McGonagall lift the hat up to the loud cheers of the Gryffindor table. She was relived of course, but what about Harry? He was looking part relived and happy and mostly a nervous wreck. She walked to the table to cheers and welcoming hugs, but brushed them off and focused on Harry as the table quieted down. The Weasley twins let out one last "ONE OF TWO!" cheer before quieting down. Crossing her fingers, she willed the hat to not separate them as it fell over his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted and the Gryffindor table went wild. There were cheers, and a golden plate was even thrown into the air like a Frisbee by the Weasley twins, who were chanting "WE GOT THE SET!"

Evie hugged Harry tightly as he sat down, and wiped away any stray tears of nerves that had escaped. She looked around at her surroundings for the first time and saw Hagrid sitting at the front table, smiling through his beard and giving her a thumb's up. She smiled and waved at him.

Ron was also sorted into Gryffindor, much to the delight of his brothers. Percy shook his hand and Fred or George tried to hit him with a spoon. Professor McGonagall finished with "Zabini, Blaise," and put the hat, scroll, and stool away. And old man with a long silver beard started talking. Evie knew him as the headmaster Dumbledore.

"Welcome!' he said. "I would like to say a few words before we all tuck in. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

He sat down and Evie laughed, along with a few people. When she looked back at the table, it was suddenly full of the most delicious looking food she'd ever seen. People were eating, and talking to their friends and the volume level in the room went up quite a bit. She started eating a roll and some steak, while listening to the people around her.

Hermione Granger, who'd been put into Gryffindor as well, was already talking about lessons with Percy the Prefect, and he was eagerly telling her about Transfiguration.

"That looks delicious," a ghost said sadly. He was dressed like he came from Queen Elizabeth's time.

"Can't you?" Harry started.

"Haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," the ghost said. "Oh! How rude of me! Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, at your service."

"I know you! You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Ron said his mouth full.

"Well, I really prefer Sir Nicholas-"the ghost started but was interrupted.

"Wait- how you can be nearly headless?" a boy asked.

"Like this," the ghost said sadly and pulled on his hear. His head tilted to the side, stuck to his neck only by some skin. Evie looked down and when she looked back at the ghost his head was reattached.

When the dinner was finished, the plates were cleaned and sweets appeared on the table in their place. Evie helped herself to some chocolate ice cream and listened to people talk about their families.

"I'm half," a boy named Seamus said. "My mum's a witch, dad's a Muggle. Mum didn't tell him she was a witch until after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

Everyone laughed at that.

"My Gran's a witch," Neville said. "They thought I was all Muggle for ages, and were always trying to bring the magic out. I was pushed off Blackpool Pier once, nearly drowned. Then when I was eight my uncle Alfie was hanging me out a window by my ankles and dropped me. But then I bounced all the way down the road. Gran was crying, she was so happy," he said.

Evie laughed at the idea of Neville bouncing down a street when a sharp pain made her suck her breath in. she slapped her cheek and looked at Harry, who was holding his head. The pain went as quickly as it came. Ron and a few other people were looking at them strangely, and she smiled, putting her hand down.

The desserts disappeared too; after a time the hall quieted to listen to the headmaster speak.

"Now we are all fed and watered, there are important announcements to be made," he started. ""First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that." Maybe it was just her imagination, but he looked at the Weasley twins as he said this. "No magic to be used in the corridors between classes, and Quidditch trials begin second week and you must talk to Madam Hooch," he said and finished with, "finally, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Only a few people laughed at that. Most were taking the news seriously. Percy the Prefect looked vaguely worried by the news, but then the headmaster started with the school song. The Weasley twins were singing a long and slow funeral march. They got the most applause after they finished.

"Follow your prefects to your dormitories!" Dumbledore said.

The hall emptied quickly, as everyone was tired and wanted to sleep as soon as possible. Percy led them through staircases, winding hallways, and twice he went behind hanging tapestries. The portraits of people pointed at them and stared, making Evie feel nervous. Then suddenly they stopped.

There was a bundle of walking sticks hanging in the air.

"PEEVES!" Percy said loudly. He walked toward the sticks and they started throwing themselves at him. They all ducked and there was a cackling in the air around them.

"Do I need to talk to the Bloody Baron?" Percy said.

That must have done the trick, because a small man appeared, grinning from ear to ear. He shrieked in laughter.

"Ickle Firsties!" he said, and dropped the walking sticks on their heads and zoomed off.

"Watch out for Peeves," Percy warned them. "The Bloody Baron is the only one he listens to. Anyway, here we are," he said and they saw a portrait of a lady staring down at them haughtily.

"Password?" she asked.

"Caput draconis," Percy said.

The portrait was actually a door and swung open wide to reveal a hole they went through to find themselves in the common room. The girls had to go to the right and boys to the left.

"Goodnight," Evie told Harry. This would be the first time in their lives they hadn't slept in the same room together. He yawned hugely but hugged her tightly and said goodnight.

Evie found her room at the middle of a spiral staircase. Moriarty was there, hooting softly in greeting. Hermione granger, Lavender Brown, and a second year who introduced herself as Vivian Waters were already there.

Thankfully, they were all too tired to talk, much less interrogate Evie, and they fell as soon as their heads touched their pillows.


	7. Chapter 7

**Real quick author's note- So I've gotten some comments saying that I haven't made Evie that developed yet, that she as a character is very one dimensional, and I'd like to address that really quickly. I started this series after i just turned 14. I'm 17 now. I'd dropped this project for about two and a half years before I started looking at it again, and in those years I also wrote some other stuff, and my writing's really improved since I was 14. I'm also writing the Andromeda series, so I'm getting some more practice in that way as well. I do want to work on this project more, its just that school, Andromeda Series, and other stuff get in the way. Chapters 1-3 were all made before the "hiatus", and I actually cringed as I read them, I really feel like I've improved so much since then. So please, give me some time to make the characters more detailed. of course, comments are always welcome, its just that I wanted to take a moment and address some concerns of the readers. **

**Happy reading!**

* * *

><p>People started following Evie early the next morning. The girls would look at her as she brushed her hair, made her bed and even watched how she tied her shoes. When she and Harry exited their dormitory the staring was almost unbearable. People would whisper and point and look at them like they were a zoo exhibit. The worst thing was they looked like they weren't trying to stare, which made her feel like she was three inches tall. Anthony spent most of his time with his house, but when they did see each other they would try to talk quickly, or at best, wave from across a hall.<p>

But the staring could not compete with the stairs. Specifically, the hundreds of staircases at Hogwarts. There were wide marble ones, creaky wooden ones, and ones that looked like they'd topple over any minute. Doors wouldn't open unless they were asked politely, or tickled, or even sung to. The ghosts were a blessing and a curse. Nearly Headless Nick would always point a Gryffindor in the right way, but Peeves would always drop walking sticks, startle, or otherwise prank students.

Ron got them into trouble the first morning they were there. After breakfast they were on the way to class and were trying to force a door open. Turned out the door was for the third floor, where they were not allowed to go. The caretaker, Argus Fitch, caught them and was threatening detention when professor Quirrell walked by and rescued them. Sadly, he looked as frightened of filch as a mouse would be of his cat, Mrs. Norris. She was a horrible and evil looking thing, always hissing at students as they walked by. If she caught someone rule breaking, she'd hiss, bat a paw and disappear, then two seconds later filch would be behind her. He knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone, well, not counting the Weasley twins.

Then came the classes themselves. Astronomy every Wednesday night, where they had to name the stars and movements of the planets. Herbology was three times a week, and they had to learn the names and uses of so many different types of plants it made Evie's head spin. The history of magic was actually the most horrifically boring class that ever could exist. It was taught by a ghost who droned on and on about wars, battles, and treaties.

Transfiguration was the most confusing class. Professor McGonagall warned them sternly that no rule breaking was tolerated. Then she turned her desk into a pig and back again. Everyone was excited until it was shown that they would have to start off small, turning a match into a needle.

"Professor?" Evie asked at the beginning of class, putting her hand in the air timidly.

"Yes, Miss Potter?" professor McGonagall answered.

"How does it happen?" Evie asked, remembering all the science classes in primary school.

"What?" she asked back, looking surprised that a student would question it.

"How can you turn something into another thing? It makes no sense. Wood cannot turn into silver because…it just doesn't happen. What happens to the match? Where does it go? Can we watch it happen under a microscope?" she asked.

"My dear, I don't know what you're talking about, microscopes and disappearing matches. You're in Hogwarts now, not the Muggle world. It may take an adjustment, but with hard work you can understand this." Was all professor said back.

All Evie could manage to do was make the match a bit sharper, and she promptly gave up on the idea of ever understanding transfiguration.

The only person who did well was Hermione, and at the end of class her match had turned shiny and pointy at one end. Professor McGonagall gave her a rare smile.

That night Hermione was sitting in her room, working on turning a needle into a match. She was working on it well into the night. It annoyed Evie to no end and she eventually put her pillow over her head and went to sleep.

Everyone wanted to get to Defense against the Dark Arts as soon as possible, but the lesson turned out to be a joke. Professor Quirrell's room smelled like garlic, which everyone said was to keep vampires away. He still wore a ridiculous turban which also smelled strange. He claimed it was a thank you gift for getting rid of a zombie, but when someone asked how to get rid of zombies he hiccupped and started talking about the weather.

Thankfully, although neither of them knew anything about magic, they weren't too far behind. Lots of people came from Muggle families, and even people who came from magical families had a lot of work to do. On the first Friday of the year Harry, Evie, and Ron found their way to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost.

Evie immediately took a large cinnamon roll covered in frosting as her reward to herself.

"What's today then?" Harry asked Ron as Evie took a long sip of her tea.

He groaned. "Double potions with Slytherin. Snape always favors them. I've heard he's horrible," Ron said.

"Wish McGonagall favored us," Harry grumbled.

"Maybe next year she will," Evie said in an attempt to cheer him up. It didn't look like it worked too well. She sighed. Even though the staring never really stopped and the lessons and everything else were so overwhelming, anywhere was better than the Dursleys.

Just then the mail arrived. It was always a bit of a surprise when it came, because there were suddenly hundreds of owls swarming over the students who were eating. Moriarty came and perched on the table next to Evie, who offered him a piece of bacon which he refused. But surprisingly he had a letter in his beak.

"Thank you," she told him as she took the letter. He cocked his head at her, hooted, and flew away. She eagerly tore into the letter- her first one since coming to Hogwarts. "It's from Mrs. Hartman!" she told Harry excitedly.

"What does it say?" he asked. He knew Mrs. Hartman as well, but he never felt a call to dance the way Evie did. Even though, he would sometimes accompany her to practice in order to get out of the house for a time.

She read aloud-

Dear Evie-

Hope you're well. Anthony's told me all about Hogwarts in his letters. It sounds so strange, an entire world like that, just tucked away from everything else. I hope you're doing well in school. Is there really a class about transfiguration? That just sounds so overwhelming. Also, if you can, find time during your busy day to stretch and practice. Those pointe shoes are within your reach! Please give Harry my best as well.

Miranda Hartman

"Who's she?" Ron asked after she finished reading the letter.

"My dance teacher," Evie said.

"What kind of dancing?" Ron asked, sounding very confused.

"Ballet," she replied.

"Oh, I've heard of that, there's a lot of jumping around and waving your arms, right?" Ron asked.

Evie was silent for a moment. "That's one way of putting it," she said eventually, too tired to explain to him the real meaning of ballet.

"Look!" Harry elbowed her. Hedwig was flying to him with a letter in her beak as well. She simply dropped it on his head and flew away, not even stopping.

"Who's it from?" Evie asked.

Harry read aloud-

Dear Evie and Harry,

I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you and like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.

Hagrid

Harry took a piece of parchment from the table and borrowed Ron's quill. Yes, we'd love to, he wrote. Evie also took a piece of parchment and s started writing back to Mrs. Hartman. Luckily for them they had tea to look forward to. The potions lesson was by far the worst thing they had to do since coming to Hogwarts.

The lessons were held in the dungeon, a cold and dark place, made creepier by the pickled animals floating in jars. Everyone ha d to draw their robes tightly around them as they sat on the cold chairs.

When Snape got to Evie's name as he was calling out roll he paused. "Oh yes, here they are. Our…celebrities," he sneered.

Malfoy and his gang, Crabbe and Goyle, snickered behind their hands. Evie stared at her table and took deep breaths. She reached under her table to squeeze Harry's hand. He was also staring at the table, but he looked very confused. Evie was as well. Why had he sounded so disdainful of them?

"You are here to learn the subtle science of potion making," he began. He spoke softly, barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. The room was so quiet a pin dropping would be loud. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Evie sighed. So potions and transfiguration would be the worst classes. Fantastic.

More silence followed this little speech.

"Mr. Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Evie didn't even know what he was talking about. She sighed, and saw Hermione's hand shoot into the air.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything." He said.

"Let's try Miss Potter, shall we? Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Evie took a deep breath and remembered a conversation she had with Mrs. Hartman when she was nine. She'd had a lot of trouble getting the correct steps, but she felt so stupid she never asked for help. Eventually Mrs. Hartman had pulled her over and sternly told her that if she ever needed help she was to ask for it.

"It takes a wise person to know when to ask for help and a humble person to do it," she told Evie. "Never be afraid to admit you don't know something. A real teacher would help you, as I will." Evie focused on that memory.

"I don't know," she said, raising her head and looking at him.

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat. For some reason that annoyed Evie to no end. Her face burned as she heard Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming?" Snape asked them, still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.

"What is the difference, either of you, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"

Evie groaned internally, but a small smile broke through her face. Some people laughed.

"Sit down," Snape snapped at Hermione. "For your information, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Evie quickly took her supplies out and wrote down the notes. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Mr. Potter? Miss Potter, what on earth is that thing in your hand?"

Evie looked up. "A ballpoint pen," she said.

"Do you have no quills?" he asked.

"I do," she said.

"Then use them, or I will take another point," he hissed. As he turned around she rolled her eyes quickly and took out her quills.

Things didn't improve as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. Evie had to work with Hermione, who basically tried to do the entire thing herself. Snape swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to favor. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of stinky green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Evie looked up and saw that Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Evie jumped on her stool in order to get out of the way. Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

This was so unfair! Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Evie saw Ron kick him. She mouthed a quick "Thank You!" across the room to Ron, and turned back to her potion.

She'd been happy to escape the suffocating dungeon as she breathed in the fresh outside air.

"Harry! We have to go!' she called out over the crowd of students escaping the dungeon. He and Ron moved over carefully and they made their way over to Evie.

"Ron would like to come too, alright?" Harry asked.

"Well hurry up, we'll be late!" Evie said with a smile.

They made their way over the ground and up to Hagrid's place. Harry knocked on the door and there was suddenly many loud, booming barks coming from inside.

"Quiet, fang!" Hagrid said from behind the door, then the door was opened to reveal his smiling face. "What are you waitin' fer? Come in!"

He opened the door and ushered them inside. It was only one room, and there were hams and birds hanging from the ceiling, and a large bed with a tattered patchwork quilt on it. There was a fire going, and a massive copper kettle was whistling.

"This is Ron," Harry said, introducing Ron to Hagrid as fang introduced himself to Ron by licking his hears.

"Another Weasley," Hagrid said. "I've spent more than my fair share chasin' yer brothers away from the forest. Hope I won't have to do the same for you."

"You won't," Ron reassured him.

Hagrid poured them all a cup of tea and served them cakes that were so hard they looked more like rocks than anything else. But Evie politely acted like she was enjoying them. Harry and Ron did the same. They talked about their classwork as Evie petted fang's head. When they got to the point of complaining about Argus Filch, Hagrid said "that old git," which delighted Harry and Ron.

"And as fer that cat," he went on, "she needs to be introduced to fang here," he said. "Every time I go up to the castle, she follows me everywhere. He puts her up to it, that sneak."

When Harry got to complaining about Snape, Hagrid seemed very confused. "But why would he hate you?" he asked Harry.

"Both of us, really," Evie said. "And he made me use a quill instead of a pen."

"What's a pen?" Ron asked.

"I wouldn't worry, he doesn't like any of the students, really." Hagrid said.

"Tell that to Malfoy," Evie said, taking another sip of her tea.

"Is that Lucius Malfoy's son?" Hagrid asked.

"I don't know," she said. "Must be, can't be a really common name, can it?"

"Look!" Harry said suddenly, pointing at a newspaper Hagrid had. He reached for it, and showed it to Evie. There was a goblin like the one at Gringotts, moving around the page. There were bursts of light and he went out of the frame.

"I'll never get used to that," Evie said as she tried to find him again.

"Ev," Harry said, "Read what it says."

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST, the headline announced.

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on the 31st of July. It is widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

"Our birthday," Evie corrected. "Oh how strange. But who would rob it, isn't there lots of magic preventing that kind of stuff?"

Hagrid would meet nobody's eyes. He grunted and offered them all another rock cake. Harry read the story again as Evie stared out the window at the cloudy last days of summer. After a short time, they were all ushered out of the hut. They were all given more rock cakes and their pockets were heavy as they walked back.

"But Evie," Harry said on the walk, "Hagrid had emptied that vault, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?"

"I doubt it," Evie said. "It sure didn't look like much. Besides, it was so small, why go to the trouble for that?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone! So one thing that's changed in this series is that I've gotten a Beta reader! I really feel that this person is doing a good job, and caught many mistakes I would've let slip through the cracks. I'm not going to say who it is, on the off chance that anyone contacts them and asks for spoilers. **

**Happy reading!**

When Evie sat down for breakfast the table was buzzing with excitement. At first she wondered what all the fuss was about until she saw the flyers. The Gryffindor first years would be learning how to fly on brooms on Thursday! She was absolutely elated, until two harsh realities sunk in. One, they would be learning with the Slytherins, and that was by far the worst thing about it. Evie hated the potions lessons with them. Harry did too, and how they were always in Snape's favor, no matter what they did. Malfoy was the worst, always gloating and preening over his potions and the compliments Snape gave him. And two, Evie had no idea what to expect. Of course there was Quidditch, something everyone was excited about for some reason, but Evie had no idea what it was. Of course, Hermione took it upon herself to educate everyone. She practically memorized a book called "Quidditch Through the Ages" and was constantly quoting passages. Neville hung onto her every word. And another thing Evie worried about was Neville. He was simply the most accident prone person there was. He always ruined potions, set fire to things accidentally in Charms, and could never make anything work in Transfiguration. Evie didn't blame him at all for the last one, Transfiguration was simply unbearable.

Anthony was having some trouble as well, but for him it was Charms. He hated them, more than Transfiguration. He was also incredibly scared of flying, and had begged her to help him. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses would be doing their flying lessons a week after the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses. Of course she promised to help him, but she was also slightly terrified as well.

And of course Malfoy was constantly boasting about his flying skills. It sounded like he had spent a vast majority of his childhood zooming around the skies, and narrowly missing helicopters and airplanes. Although while in Potions one day, Evie had had enough, and quietly asked Ron, "Do you know what I think about, every time he goes off like this?"

Ron, who hated Malfoy with a burning passion, looked intrigued. "What do you think about?"

"I wonder what he looked like, as a child, you know. All small and angry, with red splotches on his face," Evie started. "Of course, he'd have his Slytherin tie on," she added. Just then Snape passed by and she stopped talking, pretending to work on her potion. Hermione was stirring frantically, muttering to herself and not paying them any attention.

Ron started laughing silently.

Harry gave her a look. "You'll get us in trouble," he said.

"Then I wonder what that must've looked like on a broom, zipping around, doing flips and things in the air, you know?" Evie kept going. "And all the time he'd be doing that, he's complaining about Muggles, Quidditch, and the pudding at dinner," she finished.

Ron snorted loudly, and tried to cover it up with a cough. His face was bright red, matching his hair. Harry hid his laugh better.

"Mr. Weasley and Miss Potter," Snape snapped. "A point from Gryffindor each for distracting your classmates."

And that quickly put an end to that.

On Thursday everyone was excited and nervous for the lesson. The owls arrived as normal, and Moriarty perched on the table and cocked his head at her. She offered him a spoonful of jam, which he ate quickly and flew off.

"What's that?' Hermione asked someone. Evie looked a few seats down the table and saw Neville had a medium sized crystal ball.

"I thought those were just a myth," she said.

"What?" Neville asked her.

"The crystal balls, seeing into the future," she elaborated.

"Oh," he said. "This isn't Divination, it's a Remembrall. It's supposed to tell you if you've forgotten something. It turns red, like…now," he finished glumly. The ball had turned scarlet, and Neville looked at it intensely.

"But if it tells you you've forgotten something, why doesn't it tell you what you've forgotten? Isn't that the point of forgetting? That you don't remember?" she asked. She turned back to her breakfast and bit into her toast.

"Hey!" Harry exclaimed.

Evie's head snapped up and she saw that Harry and Ron had just walked in, and were awfully close to Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Malfoy had his hand around the Remembrall, and Neville looked terrified.

Professor McGonagall stepped in quickly; she seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to trouble. "Any problems here?" she said in a voice that warned what might happen if there were.

Neville looked relieved. "Malfoy took my Remembrall," he explained.

Malfoy put it back quickly. "I didn't do anything," he said, and moved away, trailed by Crabbe and Goyle.

Harry sat down beside Evie, and she smacked his arm. "What were you thinking?" she scolded.

"What?' he asked.

"You know what," she said. "I forbid you from picking fights, especially today."

"Well, he took Neville's-" he started.

Evie cut him off. "And Professor McGonagall was there. I don't want to get into trouble. They might send us back to the Dursley's."

That seemed to strike a nerve and Harry looked much guiltier than before. "I wasn't thinking of that," he admitted.

"Well now you will," Evie said. "Just think, next time, alright?"

He nodded. 'I'll be sure to," he promised.

Classes were unbearable that day, and even the teachers let them do less work, because everyone's thoughts were on flying. At three thirty, everyone hurried out onto the grounds. The sky was bright and clear, and everyone was talking among themselves. Evie's stomach was twisted into knots, and Ron looked kind of green.

"I've done this before, of course, but not often," he said. "And not in front of someone I hate."

Evie didn't say anything, because she'd never done it before at all, and didn't even know what to expect. The Slytherin class was waiting, and there were twenty brooms on the ground, lined up in a row. The instructor, Madame Hooch, arrived then, her short gray hair made her look severe, and her hawk yellow eyes piercing every student.

"Stand by a broomstick, hurry!" she ordered. She held a whistle in her hand and everyone hurried to stand next to a broom. Evie looked at hers. It was cracked, and twigs stuck out at strange angles. She looked at Harry's and Ron's and was glad that theirs didn't look too much better. "Now," Madame Hooch began again once all the students fell silent, "put your right hand over your broom, and say 'Up!'"

"Up!" Evie repeated. The broom floated a foot in the air and fell back down.

"Up!" Harry said, and the broom flew into his hand quickly. "Try it again," he encouraged her.

Deep breath, she told herself. Just like in ballet class, if you're going to do a jump, first you have to actually want to do the jump. So she imagined herself on the broom, flying in the air. It made her nervous, but when she said "Up!" the second time, the broom flew up into her hand slowly. She grinned as she wrapped her hand around the handle. Maybe it was all in her head, but she could swear that the broom was unsure.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, everyone kick up off the ground hard," Madame Hooch said. 'On the count of three, now! One, two-" she started.

But Neville kicked off the ground at two, and then gave a yelp as he was in the air.

"Come back here, boy!" Madame Hooch yelled, but it did no good. Neville rose higher in the air, then suddenly he tilted to the side, fell off the broom, and landed hard on the ground. There was a crack, and somebody screamed. The broomstick stayed in the air and lazily flew to the Forbidden Forest, on the outer edge of the school grounds. Madame Hooch walked over to Neville, who was crying. Evie felt terrible for him, she'd suffered a few sprains before and they had hurt terribly. "Broken wrist," Madame Hooch said. "Alright, then, up you go." She then turned back to the students that were watching the exchange. "Nobody gets on a broom, do you understand? If you do, you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'!" She then walked Neville back to the castle, his crying growing softer as he was taken farther away.

"Poor Neville," Evie said.

"It must've been that bad broom, Fred and George hate them," Ron guessed. "They say that they always fly wrong."

"We're only beginners, though, it doesn't make sense to give us something too good," Parvati Patil pointed out.

Suddenly, Malfoy started laughing, making everyone jump. "Did you see his face?" he asked his house, cackling. "Look!" he added, rushing forward to peer into the grass. "It's that thing Longbottom's Gran sent him," and he held the Remembrall high in the air, where it sparkled in the sunlight.

"Give it here," Harry said, his voice soft. Everyone fell silent immediately, and Evie's stomach dropped.

Malfoy smirked. "I'll leave it where he can find it," he sneered. "Up a tree should work, right, Potter?"

"Give it here!" Harry repeated, louder that time.

But Malfoy had already grabbed his broom and was ten feet in the air. Harry snatched his up as well.

"No!" Evie exclaimed. "You'll be kicked out!"

"You heard Madame Hooch!" Hermione commanded. "Get down!"

But Harry had already kicked off the ground hard, and was as high as Malfoy in the air. The world tilted at a strange angle and everything seemed far away, and all Evie could hear were faint screams from people. Calm, calm, she chanted to herself. She closed her eyes and when she opened them Harry was still in the air.

"Give it here or I'll knock you off that broom!" she heard Harry say. It was strange; it felt like she was watching this from another person's view. Half of her felt like she was underwater, and the other half was panicking that they would be kicked out of school and lose whatever connection to their parents they had. She could see years of living with the Dursleys stretch out in front of her.

"Please, come down," she said faintly.

At that moment Malfoy threw the Remembrall high in the air, and immediately came down to the ground. But Harry had already pointed the handle to the ground, was gaining speed, and at the last minute pulled back and landed on the ground with a small thump.

"Harry!" Evie shrieked and pushed through people to get to him. He grinned at her and held the Remembrall in his hand. She looked him over. He didn't seem to be hurt, and for a moment, one beautiful moment, her fear was gone, and happiness had taken its place.

"HARRY POTTER!" a now familiar voice said.

Evie's heart dropped again, lower than before. Professor McGonagall was striding through the grass, looking furious.

"Never, in all my time here-" she started, only to be interrupted by Ron.

"But Malfoy-!" he protested.

"ENOUGH!" Professor said. "You could've broken your neck, Potter, how dare you!"

"Professor!" Amelia Banks said.

"I said enough!" Professor McGonagall said again. "Do not interrupt me," she told them all. "Potter, with me," and she walked away briskly.

"It'll be fine," Harry tried to reassure her but she could see he was terrified.

"Potter!" professor said again, her voice seeming louder than ever before.

He quickly got up and walked behind her.

"That's the last I'll see of him," Malfoy hooted with glee.

Suddenly it felt like there was a band around her chest, squeezing and squeezing her lungs.

"Evie?" someone asked.

She looked up, trying to place the voice, but could only see black dots dancing across her vision. They quickly expanded and plunged her into darkness.

"I wonder when she'll wake up, it's been a while," someone said.

"Look! She moved!" someone else said.

"Ev?" Harry asked.

Harry! Evie ripped her eyes open and saw that she was in what must be the hospital wing of the school. Harry and Ron were there, as well as Anthony. She blinked and tried to see, but the bright lights were blinding.

"You're here," she sighed in relief, then her smile slid away. "Do we need to pack?"

He grinned, looking happier than she'd ever seen him. "Absolutely not," he said. "In fact, I will be staying for quite a while."

"He's a Seeker!" Ron said.

"What?" Evie asked. It was too much to take in.

"He'll be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a Seeker," Anthony explained. "Apparently, it's a big deal." He shrugged and bit into a Chocolate Frog.

"We don't have to go?" Evie asked again.

"I hope not. Professor said I had to practice hard, and told me that we just have to beat Slytherin, but as long as I do that, we should be good," Harry explained.

"He's the youngest Seeker in centuries," Ron said in awe.

At that moment Evie's stomach growled loudly, making everyone laugh.

"Your appetizer, my lady," Anthony said, handing her a Chocolate Frog. "I already took the card. Apparently people here collect them, so I think I'll try that too," he said as she bit into the head.

They made their way to the hall, and Ron could barely contain his excitement. Mostly, he was happy that Malfoy would be disappointed that Harry and Evie wouldn't be leaving. Although it was only Harry who would've been in trouble, everyone knew that if he left, Evie would too. There was no way around it, they were a package deal.

Anthony left them to go to the Hufflepuff table, after he promised not to tell anyone the good news.

"Welcome to the team," a voice said behind Evie. She jumped and turned around, seeing Fred and George Weasley behind them.

"We're Beaters," Fred said.

"And with you on the team, I'm sure that the House Cup will be ours this year," George began.

"Wood was practically skipping when he told us about you," Fred finished.

"Now if you'll excuse us," George said.

"Lee found a secret passage out of the school," Fred added.

"Bet you it was the one we found our first week," George told Fred.

"That's probably true," Fred said. "Well, good luck, see you later, Harry."

"I hate it when they do that," Ron groaned. "Makes my head hurt."

Harry turned to Evie. "We do that sometimes, don't we?"

Evie nodded. "It must be a twin thing," she told Ron.

"Last meal before you go back to the Muggles?" a sneering voice asked.

Evie set her fork down and counted to ten. She wasn't a violent person by nature, but she was furious at Malfoy for getting Harry into trouble. Even though it didn't work, the intent was there, and she wanted to punch him very hard for it. Harry kicked her under the table.

"You seem quite a bit braver now that your friends are with you," Harry said nonchalantly.

"I'll take you on my own," Malfoy said. "Wizard's duel- wands only. Or are you too scared? What the matter, never heard of a wizard's duel before?"

"Course he has. I'm his second, who's yours?" Ron interjected.

Malfoy seemed surprised that there was agreement, but he hid it quickly. "Crabbe," he said. "Midnight, at the trophy room. That's always unlocked." He left with his nose in the air, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him.

"What is a wizard's duel?" Harry hissed at Ron. "And what is a second?"

"Well a second is if you die, then I have to take over," Ron explained, stuffing pie into his mouth. "But that's only in real duels. We don't know anything yet, so maybe you'd send sparks at each other. He looked like he expected you to refuse. Serves him right," he finished his sentence and the pie at the same time-something Evie always thought should've been physically impossible.

"What if I wave the wand and nothing happens?" Harry asked.

"Then punch him," Ron said, like it was obvious.

"I'll help," Evie said, earning her a grin from Harry.

"Excuse me," someone said behind them.

It was Hermione. Evie sighed inwardly. She shared a room with Hermione, had to be her partner in potions, and decided that she was nice enough, but tried too hard to impress the teachers. She wanted everything done perfectly, and there was no harm in that, but it was vaguely annoying, because if someone didn't do something perfectly, she would always correct them, and act as if the mistake made was obvious.

"Can't I eat in peace?" Ron asked the ceiling through a mouthful of ice cream.

She ignored that. "I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying, and please reconsider, you'll lose so many points for Gryffindor if you get caught, and it'll be so selfish of you."

"It's none of your business," Harry said.

Hermione looked embarrassed and angry, but squeezed her lips together in a thin line and didn't say anything else.

Evie tried to sleep a little before midnight, but couldn't, because Hermione was whispering to her the entire time about convincing Harry to not go. Eventually, she put a pillow over her head and blocked it out, but stayed awake. When it was half past eleven she cautiously removed the pillow. Hermione must've given up and fallen asleep, because she was there, but not talking. Evie sighed in relief and grabbed her wand. Going down the staircase, she felt as if the common room looked odd in the night, the embers from the fire casting strange shadows throughout.

"Would you stop?" a furious whisper said from the boy's staircase. Evie waved her wand and the purple sparks flew for a moment, illuminating Harry's angry face and Ron's nervous one.

They all looked at each other for a moment. "Ready?" Evie asked finally.

"I can't believe you're doing this," a voice that was now extremely familiar accused.

"Hermione," Evie groaned.

"I almost told your brother Percy," she kept going, glaring at Ron. "He's a Prefect, and he'd put a stop to this."

Ron turned bright red, that much was seen, even in the dark. "You-you!" he exclaimed, unable to finish his sentence.

"Just remember what I said while you're on the train home tomorrow," she said haughtily.

"Let's go," Ron said, completely fed up. Harry and Evie followed him out the painting hole.

The sound of footsteps made Evie turn and wave her wand, illuminating Hermione's face. "I'm coming with you," she announced in a voice that said it wasn't up for discussion.

"No," Ron replied as they continued down the corridor.

"Yes," Hermione declared. Then she changed her mind. "Fine, I'm going back to bed," she said, and turned around to see the empty portrait of the Fat Lady. "What?" she exclaimed shrilly.

"Not our problem," said Ron.

There was a snuffling noise, and they all tensed.

"Mrs. Norris?" Harry asked. He waved his wand, shooting out red sparks, and saw Neville.

"I couldn't remember the password!" he said. "Please help me!"

"It was 'pig snout', but you missed the Lady," Ron said. "Goodbye."

"Wait, don't leave me!" Neville begged. "The Bloody Baron's been around twice already, and it was awful!"

Ron looked at his watch furiously. "If you get us caught," he told Hermione and Neville, "I won't rest until I learn that Bogies Curse Quirrell told us about and use it on you two."

Hermione started to say something, but Evie shot her a glare and she looked like she changed her mind. They moved quickly and silently along the hallways. Thankfully, Neville was so scared out of his mind that he was silent as well.

At every turn they thought they saw Mrs. Norris, but surprisingly, they didn't. They ran up the stairs to the third floor, and into the trophy room. They all waited for a moment for Malfoy and Crabbe, but they weren't there. Harry took his wand out, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Bet he got scared," Ron snorted.

"Shhh!" Evie hissed.

A noise made them jump, but it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, sweet. I'm sure they're lurking in here somewhere," Filch said.

They all quickly went to the door, away from the voice. Neville had barely gotten around the corner when Filch entered the trophy room.

"They must be hiding," he muttered to himself.

They crept down a hallway full of suits of armor silently but quickly. Then Neville suddenly let out a screech, started running, tripped, and took down Ron and a suit of armor, making a deafening crash.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, obviously not caring if they were heard anymore.

They all started sprinting down the hallways, not caring about the noise they were making, but also not having any idea where they were going. They somehow ended up at the Charms classroom.

"I think we lost him," Ron said.

Hermione was clutching her side. "Slow down your breathing," Evie suggested, "It helps me." She demonstrated taking deep breaths and after a few moments Hermione didn't look so terrible.

"Please!" Harry hissed.

Evie turned around and saw Peeves, giving a squeal of delight and jumping around in the air.

"Wandering around?" he asked. "Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty!"

Ron took a swipe at Peeves, which was a huge mistake. He cackled and raised his hands to his mouth.

"FIRST YEARS OUT OF BED IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" he bellowed.

"Thanks, Ron," Evie muttered.

He was trying to pull on a door, and Hermione rolled her eyes, pushed him out of the way, and tapped the lock while saying "Alohomora." The door swung open immediately. They piled through the door, and shut it, still catching their breaths.

"Where did they go?" they heard Filch ask. "Tell me!"

"Say please!" Peeves demanded.

"Where did they go?" Filch asked again, sounding like he was quickly losing patience.

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please!" Peeves sang.

"Alright, please," Filch said.

"NOTHING!" Peeves said. "I told you I wouldn't say nothing if you don't say please!" he cackled, and Filch groaned.

"He must think the door's locked," Harry said. "What?"

Neville was tugging on his robe, looking terrified. Everyone looked at him strangely, until he pointed behind them. As they looked, Evie wondered mildly if she had snapped and this whole thing was a joke.

A three headed dog was looking at them strangely. Six eyes, three noses, three huge, gaping mouths. The only reason it hadn't eaten any of them was probably because it was surprised. Then Evie remembered. The third floor corridor was forbidden. This was probably why. Ron flung the door open and they piled out, sprinting back to the Gryffindor house. Between certain death and Filch, Filch was the better option.

The Fat Lady was in her picture frame again. "Where have you been?" she asked them.

"Pig snout," Harry wheezed. She gave them an odd look, but swung open.

They all went to the common room quickly, catching their breaths.

"Why are they keeping it here?" Ron asked. "Dog like that needs to get out and about sometime."

"Didn't you see?" Hermione said. "It was standing on a trapdoor. Obviously, it was guarding something."

"How do you notice that, didn't you look at the fangs?" Evie asked.

Hermione huffed. "I hope you're happy now. We could've died, or worse, gotten expelled. Now if you'll excuse me," she said, and walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"Night, Ev," Harry said.

"Goodnight," she said, and walked up the stairs, dreading whatever lecture Hermione was going to give her. But thankfully she was asleep, and as Evie got into her bed, she fell into a quick and dreamless sleep as well.


End file.
